HaHa Moments
by crestoflight3
Summary: The Digidestined and their Digimon...they've done a lot. Of course. But does the end of the adventures mean we have to stop smiling? A collection of random one-shots following the original eight, both before, during, and after their first experience.
1. Picture Effect

**Hi! I think I forgot this part in the last few stories I've made, so I'll add it on to them later.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. If I did, the dub would be a lot better.**

**Note: Please review. It always makes my day to see somebody has actually cared to write back. Plus, I usually check out their channels. Not that you need motivation.**

**This is basically a little comic relief that would have made the dub better. Hopefully, not as cheesy as the show was. Things that wouldn't actually happen in the Digiworld, but would have been funny.**

Tai was running as fast as he could, but, even though he was a super star at soccer, he wasn't going fast enough. They were right behind him. He took off up the stairs, trying to make it to his apartment before they could catch up with him.

It had been such an ordinary day. Why did the ordinary days have to become nightmares? And where was Agumon when he needed him? That dinosaur was never at the right place at the right time.

There, his apartment door. He was going to make it.

They rounded the corner.

The door was locked. Tai fumbled to get the key out from its hiding place, then smashed it into the lock and twisted with all his might. The door flew open with a crash, and he dove in, landing on his stomach. He shoved the door closed with his foot, then jumped up and locked and chained the door. Outside, two figures started pounding on the door, failing to hide their laughter.

"Come on, Tai, let us in! We want to talk to you!"

"Yeah, we won't bite. Promise!"

"No!"

From his bedroom, Kari and Agumon walked out to see what was going on. Tai glared at his little sister.

"Kari! Why did you show Sora and Mimi that picture?"

Kari stepped forward innocently. "Which picture?"

"You know! The one…the one when I was a baby…in my puppy costume."

**So, what do you think? Should I do one for each of the Digidestined?**


	2. Ball Fall

**Disclaimer: No, I do not own Digimon. I don't even own the words. They are from the dictionary. Sorry, stupid joke there.**

**Note: I've no idea how the Digimon are in the real world, but this is with 01 aged characters. I might make 02 characters later. Have fun!**

* * *

Bringing the soccer ball up, I made to throw it, instead dropping it on my knee to kick it up and down. I loved practicing. Even if my mom didn't like me playing soccer, I had done much more dangerous stuff in the last year that made soccer look wimpy. I'm sorry to say that, but it was true. Fighting Digimon was a lot cooler than scoring goals. Though I'm sure that Tai would disagree.

I had made a deal with my mom. I was allowed to continue playing soccer if I helped clean up the shop every night before I went to bed. It wasn't that hard. I just had to water the flowers, clean up any dead leaves, and sweep the floor. My mom never made a mess. To her, everything had its place. And mine was to help her when the shop closed.

I had had a fight with Mimi a few hours ago. She had been trying, again, to get me to wear makeup and a dress, and to go to the dance. I didn't want to go dance at all. Number one: we were too young for that. I would wait until high school before I even considered it.

Number two: I would never tell Mimi this, but I would have no idea as to what to do at a dance.

What do you do at dances, besides dance? What do you dance to? What do you wear? I wouldn't go unless someone asked me, and the two boys I currently liked in my grade were oblivious to that fact. I didn't even know which one I like more. It didn't help that they were best friends. And their younger siblings thought of me as a role model. So I tried to remain neutral and uncaring, and, again, would wait until high school until the thought of dating actually crossed my mind.

I was now moving with the soccer ball, approaching the stairs. My mom and I (and my Dad when he came home from Tokyo) lived in a small flat above my mother's shop. I was reaching a new record with knee-kicks. I had promised my coach that I would try to do a hundred in a row every night. Some might think that big, or small, but it suited me just fine.

_Ninety-one, ninety-two, ninety-three, ninety-four…_

I was almost there. A new record for me!

"Sora! Matt and Tai are here!"

"Matt? Tai? Biyomon!"

The pink and blue feathered bird landed smack in my face after flying up the staircase. I lost my balance, and fell after the ball down the stairs. Good going, Sora. Nice and smooth. Plus, my record was gone.

The two boys rushed forward, smirks clear on their faces. They each took an arm and helped me up. I wasn't hurt, but I could feel my cheeks reddening.

Luckily, no one saw me blushing. They were all looking at the shop.

"Uh, Sora, is now a bad time?" Tai muttered, barely hiding laughter.

I turned to look.

The ball had bounced. And knocked over two shelves of fresh flowers.

"Yeah, this is a very bad time." And without another look at the two giggling boys, I grabbed a broom and started sweeping.


	3. Snow Day

**Disclaimer:…**

**Author's Note: Yeah, as you may have realized, in my parallel world, the Digimon are still there, but mostly unknown. Because I can't break up the partners. I just can't. Hope you enjoy. Oh, and thanks to all who answered my previous question. Read and Review!**

* * *

It was a normal day in the middle of winter. Patamon was asleep on my bed, pretending to be stuffed animal. Mom was working on the computer, writing another newspaper article. I was bored.

Then the phone started to ring.

"Hi! This is T.K. Takaishi!" I said into the receiver side.

"T.K., it's Matt. Dad wants to know if you want to go sledding with us..."

"YEAH!"

"Okay, okay, calm down! We'll pick you up in ten minutes, 'kay?"

"Yep!"

I hung up the phone and started running in little circles. Sledding! It was rare that we went sledding; we lived in the city, so hills were sparse. But there was a nice one just outside of the city…

"T.K., what's going on?"

"Oh, Mommy, Mommy, we're going sledding with Matt and Daddy!"

She laughed and started grabbing supplies.

And by the time the ten minutes were up, we were waiting outside dressed in coats, hats, scarves, gloves, and boots. I couldn't breathe very well, but I was too excited to be mad at all of my excess clothes.

A van came down and stopped in front of us. Mom got into the front seat next to Dad, and I jumped in beside Mom. He started laughing when he saw what I was wearing.

We were really quiet on the way down to the sledding hill. And while my parents and brother didn't mention it, I saw the slight tension between Mommy and Daddy. I knew that they were divorced, but ever since they had met up at the city after we defeated VenomMyotismon, they had been in more contact. I sometimes heard Mom talking to Dad late at night, way past my bedtime. Hope was my crest, and I really hoped that they would get back together and we could be a family again.

It was still pretty early when we arrived at the sledding hill, so we were alone minus a few others. Matt and I took turns riding his sled, pretending that we were riding Garurumon. It was a lot of fun.

After a few hours, we got really tired, so we decided to start for home. But I decided to go one more time down the hill.

On the way down, my sled hit a lump in the snow, and I went flying.

And landed in a big heap of snow.

According to Matt later, I looked like a Frigimon.

But when I got home and told Patamon what had happened, he laughed and said, "T.K., you learned to fly."

Wow. I guess I had. Though I didn't want to fly be myself again anytime soon.


	4. A Day at the Beach

**So, Disclaimer: No. Sorry.**

**Note: Well, in my story, for some unknown reason the kids have their Digimon in the real world post-Apocalymon but prior to 02. So they are still young. And, in my mind, no one but the eight of them, Jim, Mr. and Mrs. Izumi, and Mr. Ishida know about the Digiworld and such. No idea how that works out. It just does. Enjoy!**

"Joe, hurry up!"

"I am, I am! Stop shouting at me, Gomamon!"

"Oh, come on. You're such a slowpoke, especially in the mornings!"

"Am not! I love mornings!"

"Sure, sure. Which is why you grumble all throughout breakfast."

"That's not my fault. I wouldn't mind getting up at all if you didn't have to wake me by jumping on the bed with those flippers of yours!"

"Well, I get hungry."

"Oh, right, excuses, excuses."

"Well, I also hate getting locked in your closet every night."  
"That's so Mom and Dad don't see you! I already have Jim involved; I don't need more family problems than I already have!"

"Now who's whining?"

It was late in the morning, and Gomamon and I were getting ready to head out to the beach across from the middle school. Gomamon was getting tired of being on dry land, and I couldn't take his whining anymore. So, while he swam around, I was planning on reading a book on positive thinking. I was willing to give it another go.

"Could you go any slower?"

I sighed. Gomamon, I knew, didn't mean any of his blabbering. It was his way to pass the time—talk. I added an item to my shopping list for later—duct tape. Maybe that would keep him quiet. It would sure help me sleep. Even after shoving him in the closet (I love animals, just not loud ones or ones that I'm allergic to) he was still loud enough to keep me awake half of the night.

"Come on!"

I sighed again, and bent down to finish tying my shoe. Gomamon groaned. "I don't get it! When an angry Monocromon comes out of nowhere to attack, you're one of the fastest in the lines of retreat. But under a normal, unstressful day, you act as if it's your job to waste the day away."

"Well, Gomamon," I said, finishing one shoe and starting the other, "Running from monsters is my exception to taking my time. Sorry if you don't like it."

"Well, you're also quick on your feet when Mimi comes around."

I felt myself blush. "I just don't like to keep people waiting."

"Well then, what about me? I'm waiting. I've been waiting for the last half hour!"

"Gomamon, you're technically not a person."

"Says who?"

"The dictionary. Look it up."

"I can't, Joe. My flippers don't do well with pages."

"Tough luck, then."

Finally, after grabbing my duffel bag and shoving Gomamon into it, I headed outside, struggling with my feisty package. I took the train down to the beach, and, once there, found an isolated section and let my partner out. He looked around a few times, then made to run to the water. I stopped him right before he took off.

"Oh, no, you don't. There are a few rules I have to remind you of."

"Oh, come on, Joe. You tell me the rules every time!"

"Because you don't listen!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do…no! I'm not starting that up again!"

"Well, then, just tell me your stupid rules!"

"Okay. First and foremost, stay out of sight."

"Yay! I'll turn invisible! Oh, wait, I can't. Nevermind."

"Secondly, don't do anything to attract attention."

"No surfing?"

"No. Thirdly, when you get tired, come back to me, and I'll take you home."

"Okay then. Just avoid Joe, and I get to live the good life away from you."

"That's not funny, Gomamon!"

"Is too."

"Is not."

Is too."

Is…no! Just…go and have fun, 'kay?"

"Sure thing, buddy."

I watched him head out to the waves. Although the beach wasn't as full as it could be, there was a fair amount of people sunbathing and swimming. I just hoped that Gomamon would be alright.

I settled down to read my book, staying in the shade of a nearby bush. Everything was nice and peaceful, until…

"Oh my! Monster!"

My head snapped up. Without thinking, I dropped my book down and ran over to where I had heard the scream. All the while, thoughts of Gomamon getting in trouble with another Digimon or, more likely, with a person, crossed through my mind.

"Monster, monster! Help!"

Oh, come on, Gomamon, what's going on this time?

A girl a few years younger than me was shouting, running towards the shore. No one took any notice of her.

Come on, Joe, I've got to help her…

That's when I noticed the young boy in a shark flotation coming up behind her.

"Got ya!" He screamed, pulling the girl down into the waves. When they came up again, both were laughing.

This Digimon stuff was making me paranoid.

I headed back towards my pack. I reached the bush where I had found my solitude and looked around. That was strange. It wasn't there anymore. My book was gone, too. Where…

" Boo!"

I yelped and fell over, head in the sand. When I opened my eyes, the sight of a white face greeted me.

"Hello, Joe. Did I scare you?"

"Yes. Gomamon, get off of me."

"So, where'd you go?"

I blushed. I wasn't going to tell him what I had mistakenly assumed.

"Oh, nowhere of importance."

"Sure. Oh, I saw Mimi. She's wearing a swimsuit in that direction."

My head pivoted. I looked around until I heard Gomamon snickering. Turning my head again (I was going to get whiplash at this rate) I saw him trying, and failing, to hold back laughter. With a sick feeling in my stomach, my face turned even redder.

"I got ya, Joe!"

"Oh, shut up, Gomamon. It's not even that funny."

"Yeah it is!"

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is!"

I shoved him in the duffel bag. "No it isn't." I muttered.

And, with that, I zipped it shut.

**I know, I said no couplings, but it isn't, really. I just couldn't resist Gomamon banter. Oh, and, thanks to writing this, Joe and Gomamon are now two of my favorite characters. Not most favorite, but fourth best partnership. Don't know how that works, it just does! Who are your favorite characters (from 01 or 02)?**


	5. Computer Crash

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. Or the characters. Or a laptop, for that matter. I could go on to say all that I don't own, such as an iguana or the Pyramids, but the list is too long…**

**Author's Note: Sorry that it took so long to get this out. I now have a journal with writing prompts, to use in case of emergency, or when I want a good idea. Enjoy!**

It was late at night. I had just wished my parents 'good night' and locked my bedroom door behind me. That was more out of habit than me actually wanting privacy—it was hard to be alone when a giant electronically-created beetle shared my bedroom with me.

"Hi, Izzy!" he said. Although his facial features never show any emotion, his antennae were up, an indication that he was happy, or at least content. I slipped into my bed and switched off the lights.

"Good night, Tentomon," I said, and closed my eyes.

And opened them again just as quickly when I heard a loud crash from around my study desk.

"Tentomon? Are you all right?"

"…I'm fine…"

I sat up in bed, and reached for the light switch. Instead, a hard thing like a shell was in my way.

"Tentomon, let me turn on the lights. I need to see what fell over."

"Um…nothing did."

My eyes still couldn't see in the darkness, and, even if they could, Tentomon's red form was unmistakably in my way. "What fell?"

"Um…nothing."

"Tentomon, please tell me?"

"Would you believe me if I said a giant mushroom?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, that wouldn't make sense, would it? Um, how about some pencils? Yes, some pencils rolled off your desk."

I rolled my eyes. "Tentomon, pencils don't make that banging sound when they fall. Even if I had left any pencils on my desk, they would sound like something 'clattering'. Not a 'bang'."

"Oh."

I sighed, and started reaching under my pillow. "Tentomon, what happened? I won't be mad at you."

"I told you, nothing of importance happened…" That was when I pulled my mini flashlight out from under the pillow and turned it on.

Tentomon was standing in front of me, slightly hovering to block out my desk. His antennae were down, almost wilted looking. I immediately wanted to console my worried friend, but I pushed that thought aside as I leaned around him to see what happened.

It was lying on the ground, upside down. I rushed over to it, picking it up and hugging it to my chest.

"Wh…what happened?"

"Um…the computer crashed?"

**So, what did you think? Oh, and the computer's all right…I can't destroy Izzy's most prized possession! What kind of person do you think I am? Anyway, if you have any funny ideas, preferably using 01 characters and ages, please tell me. School, mainly gym, goes by so much faster when I'm plotting my next story…maybe I should do something in the Digiworld…**


	6. Digieggs

**So, here is the next chapter! Disclaimer: No, I don't own it. My name isn't even Japanese…not trying to be stereotypical…**

**Note: This is a pretty random idea that I came up with yesterday…I was planning on writing something different, but this felt better than my other idea, so that one will come out later…if that makes sense! FYI, Kari's 8, so she, like many 8 year olds, don't know a lot of how the universe works. Tai does know, but I don't think that he would tell…my brother never told me those things, and he's my same age! He thinks he's older because of two minutes! Okay, my note is complete. Enjoy.**

"Hey, Tai?"

"Yeah, Kari? What is it?" I rubbed my eyes and sat up. Kari's small form was standing in front of my bed. Well, our beds, but hers was on top. I began to wonder how I didn't awake at the sound of her climbing down.

"Well, I was wondering…"

"What?"

"Are humans born like Digimon are?"

I blinked a few times, leaning back. That wasn't what I was expecting. "What do you mean?"

I patted the bed next to me, and she sat down there, leaning on me. "Well, it's just that, if Digimon are born from Digi-eggs in Primary Village, is there a village that our eggs come from?"

I blinked again. "I don't think humans come from eggs like Digimon do…"

"Then where do they come from?"

"It's…complicated."

"How so?"

"Um…well, when you were born, Mom and Dad had been at the hospital," I tried suggest that I wasn't the best one for this job.

"So is there a village in the hospital? I don't remember seeing one…" she continued innocently. Sometimes I just wanted to scream at how little she didn't know. Until I remembered that she knew a lot more than she should for her age.

"No, there isn't a village at all. Look, Kari, you should go and ask Mom and Dad about this. But wait until you're older."

"Why?"

"Um, because you won't have to worry about that kind of stuff for a long time, if you're lucky."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks, Tai." She got up, and began climbing up her ladder to get to her bunk. I sighed and plopped down.

The next morning I woke up later than normal. My sister wasn't in the room, so I figured that she must be getting breakfast. As I leaned forward and rubbed my eyes, I saw Agumon and Gatomon staring at me.

"What is it?" I asked.

Gatomon looked down, an impish smile on her face. "Um, we overheard Kari wondering where babies come from. And we both sort of want to understand humans more…so, if humans aren't born like Digimon, then how are they born?"

I groaned and plopped back down, pulling the covers over my head.

**I know, I did Tai's POV again, but, like I said earlier, I am being random here. Oh, and just to warn you, I might continue redoing characters…I'll try not to. Depends on my mood. Thanks for reading! You're all awesome!**


	7. TV Time

**I'm random lately, aren't I? No, I don't own Digimon…**

**Don't ask where this came from. I don't know. How about lunch time, with me sitting in the hallways, trying to do homework and failing? That could be it…**

"Izzy, what're you doing?"

"Well, Kari, since Tai is a firm believer that the best way to fix an electronic device is to hit it, I'm trying to fix your television set before your parents come home."

"Oh. That makes sense." I turned to glare at my older brother. He backed up when he saw my stern glare.

"Hey, don't blame me! Blame the television set for having interference during the soccer match," he said, then started muttering about how scary eight year olds can be.

I looked back at the screen. It was still multi-colored, and the noises coming out of the speakers were either random words, or in another language. I would have to guess the first one. Izzy was playing around with some colorful wires, turning them slightly and then looking toward the TV to see if it got any reaction. It hadn't, so far.

"It looks like a wire came loose inside the set. I can make a small gap here, but unless you're willing to move the furniture around, I can't make it any bigger."

Tai shrugged and looked to the gap that Izzy had made with the wiring. "Kari, could you lend us a hand?"

I shook my head. Then, since he wasn't looking, said, "Nope."

The two boys looked my way, Tai in annoyance, Izzy in amusement.

"Come on, Kari, why not?"

I shrugged, mimicking Tai from earlier. "I won't unless you give me your T.V. time for the rest of the weekend."

Tai looked at me in horror. "What? No way! The soccer match is still on, and then there is the match tomorrow…"

I started walking away. "Well, then, looks like you can't get it fixed. Sorry."

Izzy snickered.

My brother ran up to me, grabbing my shoulders. "Sure, sure. I don't want to get in trouble with Mom and Dad. Just, help us, 'kay?"

I smile my best 'little-girl' smile. "Sure thing, Tai!"

And in two minutes the T.V. was working again. My hand went through the gap in the wires with plenty of room. Actually, I just moved the wires around to make it bigger. Tai was staring in disbelief.

"Wait…my hand would have fit through that opening, wouldn't it?"

Izzy chuckled, sitting on the couch next to me. "Well, Tai, it could have. So could mine. Kari just had been complaining about how you always stole her T.V. time, so I decided to equal the balance."

And I sat back to watch my programs as Tai began chasing Izzy around the apartment.

**I love Tai and Kari! As if you haven't noticed…**

**This sounds like something that would have happened between my siblings and me. I think it did happen, in fact…**

**Hope you enjoyed it!**


	8. Nature Hike

**Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon. There. That enough?**

**Author's Note: This literally popped in my head about a minute ago…it sort of makes sense, since a friend and I went on a nature hike earlier today…Enjoy!**

**I'm so happy right now…so, my computer crashed five minutes ago (Word entirely froze up on me, my internet crashed…I was so afraid that I would have to rewrite this!) but apparently it saved on its own! I'm so happy!**

"Mimi, come on! At this rate, it's going to take forever to finish this trail!"

I stopped again, using a stick to hit a fern out of my immediate path. "Palmon, I'm not used to hiking, much less in the outdoors!"

Palmon patiently waited for me. "Mimi, when we were in the Digiworld, you did tons of hiking in the outdoors! How is this any different?"

"Well, there, I didn't have a choice. Plus, I didn't really notice the dirt when I was running away from monsters!"

"Oh, Mimi."

I was getting nowhere, fast. Palmon had suggested that we go on a hike, so I had convinced my dad to drive me and my 'duffel bag' a little way away from the city, where Palmon and I could have some quality time together. She had wanted nature. It made sense. She was a plant, after all.

"Mimi, hurry up! The lake is just over that hill!"

"Wait up, Palmon!"

I hurried forward, jumping over fallen logs and leaves. Why did nature have to be so dirty? I mean, couldn't it take a bath or at least get sanitized every once in a while?

Then I tripped.

I didn't try to. Duh. But I was trying to figure out how much sanitizer it would take to clean up the forest (math was never my strong point) when a log came out of nowhere. Well, I guess it came out of somewhere. But that's beside the point. Next thing I knew, I was flying, and landed headfirst in the lake.

Palmon came rushing forward, her, well, I guess they are hands, though they are sort of like claws…well, anyway, her hands were covering her mouth.

"Are you laughing at me?" I screamed at my partner.

She straightened up. "No. I'm just in shock," she said, her hands still covering her mouth. That was when a chuckle escaped her mouth.

"You are laughing at me, aren't you?"

"I'm sorry, Mimi, but you look so…funny! Covered in ferns and dirt and all, it isn't like you!"

"Well, thanks for your _sincere _opinion, but some thoughts are better kept to yourself!"

I stood up, and started wiping nature off of me. By the time I waded out of the lake, I could feel my cheeks burning.

"Mimi, why are you blushing? There's no one here to see you but me."

"Yeah, and you don't count, because you're a plant."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm tired. Let's head back."

"Okay, Mimi. Whatever you say."

By the time the parking lot was in view again, I was a wreck. My hair had dried the wrong way, and was all tangled. My dress was stiff from the dirty water, and my hands were scratched from where I had tried to catch myself as I fell.

"Palmon?"

"Yes, Mimi?"

"I don't want to go on a nature hike again."

**Yeah, this wasn't the 'haha' moment that I wanted for Mimi, but it works. I've actually gotten a few more ideas for Mimi stories…thanks to for suggesting I do one, I was thinking about Mimi ideas all day today!**


	9. Revenge: Gullibility

**Disclaimer: I wouldn't put this in here is I did own it. Actually, I wouldn't be doing fan fiction if I did own it. So I don't.**

**Author's Note: So last night was crazy. This is what comes of it.**

**Oh, and we all knew this was going to happen. Quick thing, though: every other time, she really is ill. I just figured that she'd get annoyed with it after a while…I sure do when my brother and sister go crazy if I get sent home…**

"Kari, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yep."

"Then why did you get sent home from school yesterday?"

"Because I wasn't feeling well then. Now I am."

"You sure? You sound a little congested to me…"

"Tai, so do you. You do realize that there is a cold going around the school?"

"But you look a little flushed…"

"That's from you piling another cover on me every two minutes last night. Mom's going to look inside her closet and find it devoid of blankets."

"You felt cold, though…

"Because Gatomon slept on the balcony, not standing you're constant checking up on me."

"You sure nothing hurts? No sores or sprains?"

"Unless you count a few days ago when you 'accidentally' hit me with your book bag…"

"Hey, that wasn't my fault! You're foot was just, well, there right when I dropped it to the ground…"

"And, Tai, if you count where you hit me from when I was climbing down the ladder…"

"Hey, you're super quiet! How was I supposed to know you were there…I was stretching…"

"Sure, sure. Or, how about when you made hot chocolate last week, and you splashed some boiling water on my arm?"

"I told you to get away!"

"I was five feet away from you and your kettle…"

"…That's not the point! The point is that you're sick, and you shouldn't get up out of bed! You look tired!"

"I would have slept if you hadn't needed to check my forehead every hour last night!"

"Hey, I was worried! You got sent home from school, and that upset me!"

"Tai, I just want to get up to get a drink of water. Isn't liquid supposed to be good for someone who's sick?"

"Hey, yeah, you're right!"

"And pillows and rest and a calming meal…like chocolate?"

"Chocolate?"

"Hey, I think I read it somewhere…"

"Okay, then. You stay here, and I'll go and get you the supplies…will you be okay when I'm gone?"

"Oh, I'll be fine. I'll scream if anything happens. But I have Gatomon, so no worries."

"Okay. I'll be right back."

With that the door slammed shut.

In the kitchen…

"Oh, no! Where's the chocolate…? Agumon…"

"…midnight snack?"

"Agumon!"

"Um, maybe you should calm down, Tai. I'm sure Kari will be fine…"

In the bedroom…

"Oh, my, gosh! He was so gullible! I told you it would work!"

"Gatomon, stop laughing! He'll hear us!"

"But, chocolate? Good for a cold? I tell you, he'll do anything you want him to so long as you stay in bed!"

"Hmmm. I've always wanted to see him stand on his head…"

"How would that work? His hair is his head, and he can't stand on those points…"

"Exactly why it would be so funny!"

"Not trying to sound mean, but can I get sick next?"

"Don't abuse the system! You'll ruin it for me!"

"Okay, okay. One sec…" Gatomon stuck her head out the door. "Tai, where's the chocolate?"

**I know, this is pretty random, but I wanted to write something. Like I said above, last night was crazy. A friend of mine was getting stalked by two boys after the football game. So I hitched a ride with a friend to go and find her before, well, anything bad happened. Because one of the boys was an ex-boyfriend of hers…Yeah, we were speeding and honking the horn like crazy. But she's okay. And the police didn't catch us. So all's well that ends well.**

**Like I mentioned before, this is Kari's payback time to her overprotective brother. I know, Kari wouldn't do something like this in actuality, but it is fun in my alternative universe, don't you think? **


	10. Revenge: Reverse Psychology

**So I decided to make a trilogy for my Revenge cycle…I might do the same with them when (if) I ever do a Haha for the 02 season…I might just make a new story for that, and do both at the same time. Enjoy!**

"Tai, I can walk home by myself. We don't live far."

"But you're too young!"

"I've gone running around the park and all over the city by myself. I can handle a few blocks to get home."

"Well, as your older brother, it is my solemn duty to keep you safe until you are as old as I am."

"…I'll never be as old as you are…"

"Exactly my point. Therefore, I'll always be the wiser."

"Sure. Which is why you never realized that I was the Eighth Child."

"Wha—don't bring that up! You didn't know either!"

"…and is why you let me run around town _on my own _when some monsters were attacking…"

"Hey, I was busy looking for the Eighth Child…um, you…"

"…and is why Agumon nearly hit me with a Pepper Breath when he saw me talking to Gatomon…"

"…he had just eaten an entire watermelon. He was a little constipated…"

"…and is why you left me with Matt…"

"How did I know that those monsters would find you?"

"Well, you split the group up by sending Sora over. A little bit of a give away for a group that relies on teamwork…"

"Hey, I was trying to get us all together and rally a defense around you!"

"…didn't work."

"…I know. But, see, those weren't my fault! Blame Phantomon!"

"Oh, yeah, I'll blame the thing that caught me."

"Good. That reminds me, I still need to take it up with Matt on how he could let you get discovered."

"Tai, be nice."

"…okay."

"You know, I've noticed a recurring event. If anything happens to me, I'm fine as long as you're there. Once you leave to get help, however, things go wrong."

"Yeah, you're right!"

"So you should stay with me all the time."

"But, soccer…"

"And play dress up."

"But, soccer…"

"Or else I'll tell Mom how you didn't take care of me when we were in the Digiworld."

"…"

"I thought so. So, do you want to be knight or prince? Or how about the horse?"

"…are you sure you can't walk yourself home? After all, you are becoming older…"

"Really? By myself?"

"…yes?"

"Okay, then! Bye! See you after your soccer practice!"

With that, she skipped off.

"That was close."

Down the street away…

"Hey, Kari, how did it go?"

"Gatomon, you're supposed to be home! You look like an exotic breed of cat!"

"So? I managed to be in the public before. Anyway, did it work?"

"Yep. Reverse psychology is real, after all."

**I'm starting to feel bad sending Tai on guilt trips. But I need to get poor Kari a little more freedom, don't I? Now, if only reverse psychology worked on my mom…thanks for reading!**


	11. Revenge: Is Sweet

**I know, Kari isn't supposed to be evil. But don't say it couldn't happen. Anything can happen.**

**Oh, and Sammyjon123 and I are in the market for a time machine…um, I have a grand total of about ten dollars, so if you're willing to part with one cheaply…hey, it's for a good cause! We're trying to conquer Digimon before it was created so we can add these to it…anyone? Want to join us in our attempts? Remember what I said before, that anything can happen…**

**Oh, and I wouldn't be trying to get a time machine if I already owned Digimon. So there's the disclaimer!**

"Hey, Kari?"

"Yeah, Tai?"

"Where did Miko go?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I haven't seen her today…"

"…she could be out on a walk…"

"When did you last see her?"

"…"

"So where is she?"

"…"

"…"

"Oh, no! I think I locked the door last night! She was locked outside all night!"

"Anything could have happened…"

"Anything? Like what?"

"Hmmm, let's see…well, this is Japan, so there are a lot of pets that are run over by cars."

"Cars!"

"And there are a few wild dogs running around…"

"!"

"What else? I know! She could get lost in this big city…"

"Come on, Tai! We have to go and find her!"

"I already looked…"

"Waaah! I lost Miko!"

"Calm down, stop crying so much! Do you want Mom and Dad to know?"

"Yeah!"

"No, you don't. If they knew, then they would never trust you again. They probably would make you leave the family."

"What? But, they love me…"

"Didn't they love Miko, too?"

"Waaaah!"

"I'm sure a nice person would adopt you, though it could be a mean person…"

"Mean?"

"Yeah. They would beat you, and never let you see me at all…"

"I would never be allowed to see you again?"

"That's how it would be…"

"But, you're my onii-chan." (means big brother in Japanese. No, I haven't seen the sub, but you all appear to have, since that is what you all always say in your fanfictions…)

"Well, I wouldn't be your big brother any more. I would be an only child. So would you."

"But…I need you…"

"You would have Gatomon. Remember?"

"But, she's not the same…"

"I'm sure she would protect you just fine…"

"Tai, are you trying to make me cry?"

"…"

"Waaaah! Miko! Mommy and Daddy! Onii-chan!"

Just then, a small white-and-orange tabby rounded the corner.

"…Miko…"

"Um…I've got to be going…bye!"

"Tai, come back here! Gatomon, claw Tai, please?"

"Sure thing, Kari. Wow. For only having two legs, he sure runs fast…"

Down the hall…

"Tai, I told you this wasn't a good idea…"

"Shut up and keep running, Agumon!"

**Don't worry. They aren't mad that much longer. I think. You'll have to ask them for confirmation…nope. Still not speaking to each other.**

**Okay, I'm done for now being mean to the two of them…besides being OOC, I need to move on. Though this might come back every few chapters, if you want…**

**Oh, and I'll update If Digimon Could Type sometime tonight. I've been too busy with this story. I was up til way past curfew celebrating an awesome performance by our marching band…what happened is on my profile, if you want to know…**

**Thanks for reading, and not hating Kari…**


	12. Roller Coaster

**Please, if I ever write to avoid homework, I give you all full rights to scream and flame me. Because I'm way behind in history, and it's due tomorrow! Oh, well…**

**Oh, and I need a Chemistry tutor, because it's giving me a headache.**

**I was, like, around five years old when Digimon was created, so I obviously don't own it.**

Today was the day. The day I did the unthinkable.

"Come on, Joe, let's get in line!"

It loomed before me; a solid iron track moving up and down in a hypnotizing pattern. I nearly fainted on the spot.

"No, Tai. You got me to come here with you, but I am not going on that…that…thing!"

Tai pouted. "You're hurting the 'thing's' feelings, Joe. What did it ever do to you?"

At that moment, a burst of air came from overhead, along with the screams of the excited passengers. I went momentarily deaf, and missed Tai's next words. "…if that's how you feel, you can baby-sit the Digimon for us…I'm sure they wouldn't mind the attention."

I balked slightly at the thought of the eight monsters begging me for food, or, in Patamon's case, a belly rub.

"Sure, I'll do it. Just…let me go to the bathroom first?"

After about ten minutes in the little boy's room emptying my system of anything that might embarrass me later, I got in line next to the goggled kid. Why was I listening to him? He was a year younger than me, and didn't think clearly—the fact that he wore goggles showed the truth in that. Still, I followed him, and before I knew it, we were next in the line.

The cart rolled to a screeching stop in front of me, and, one by one, the passengers wobbled off. I started turning around when I saw one that looked pretty green. This couldn't be safe. It just wasn't possible.

"Come on, Joe," Tai said, and he pulled me on, shoving me next to him.

I looked around me. The restraints were hardly better than average, the cart was dirty, and everything felt easily breakable. I sat there dumbly, trying to think of a way out of this.

"Can I help you, sir?" a young employee asked. I blushed.

"Why would I need any help?" I said, ignoring the fact that I would be turning green in a few seconds.

"Well, you haven't buckled your seat belt yet."

Oh. No wonder it didn't feel safe at all.

I snapped my buckle down, and the attendant pulled sharply at it, securing it into place. I nearly puked when the harness came down…I was a little claustrophobic in situations like these. I gulped and looked at the boy next to me. Tai was smiling widely, and, to my astonishment, he had his goggles and headband pulled down, around his neck.

He saw me looking. "Well, I don't want them flying off when we go upside down…"

I gulped. "Upside down?"

"Yep. Really, it will be like flying a Birdramon."

"But Birdramon never went upside down."

Tai grinned. "Hold on!"

"Wha-," and then we were off.

By the time I stumbled off the roller coaster a few minutes later, I felt fine. Better than fine, in fact. It reminded me of those adrenaline rushes we would get when running from monsters. Comforting, in a way.

Tai obviously didn't feel the same way I did. As soon as we were off, he went running straight to the bathroom. Unnerved, I followed him.

"Tai? Are you all right?"

He mumbled a response, and I quickly turned and blocked my ears as he, um, well, got rid of his meal in the toilet. Then I remembered what he had been doing while I had been in the bathroom preparing for the ride.

"Tai, did you honestly have a chili dog before riding that?"

Tai just glared at me, and looked down again.

**I sort of want to continue with the theme park idea…maybe one for each of the destined…and then one of what the Mon do when they can't join them at the park…**

**Sorry, I miss roller coasters right now…even though I always scream death threats at whoever took me on the coaster in question, I love them…!**


	13. Digieggs: A New Scenario

**You remember a few chapters back? This is a follow-up…amazing, huh? I've realized something…I seriously like drabbles and randomness…! Yeah, I just realized it…**

**Again, any couples mentioned are not to be taken seriously…**

"Matt?"

I rubbed my eyes; this was one of the few times that TK and I had a sleep-over together, and I had been up all night playing kiddy board games and playing my harmonica for him…so how was he up before me?

"Yeah, TK?"

"Um…Patamon has a question for you."

A voice came from the lump on his head. "No, it was your question, TK."

"But you're the one who suggested we ask Matt…"

"You asked me first…"

"You're older!"

"Am not. Technically, my egg was created after yours was…"

"Oh, yeah, that was how we came up with the question."

I sighed and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. "TK, what is it?"

TK gulped and looked towards the ground. "Well, we were wondering where babies come from…"

Huh? Seriously?

He saw my disbelief, since he clarified, "Well, I know that Digi-babies come from Digi-eggs that usually arrive in the Primary Village, but where do human babies come from…?"

"Um…the hospital?"

"But then why are mommies always so big looking and say that they are about to have a baby?"

"…ask Dad. I'm not right for this job."

"But you're my big brother…!"

I hated it when he pulled that card on me.

"Um, well…when a man and a woman love each other…they get a baby."

"But how?"

I plopped my head back down on my pillow. Why me? "They just do."

"So…if Kari and I love each other, we'll get a baby? But I thought only husbands and wives got babies…"

I nearly fell over when I sat up. "Ah! No, not like that!"

"But then what's it like?"

"You and Kari and just really good friends. You don't love love each other."

"But my teacher said that friendship is a form of love…"

"TK, there are many types of love…ask Sora about them. It's her Crest. I've got Friendship, and I'm telling you, they aren't the same."

"So, only mommies and daddies can have babies together?"

"Yep. You get it."

Patamon butted in. "So your Dad and a different Mom could have a baby together?"

"Ah! No! Not what I meant. They have to be married."

"But then why is there a teenager who isn't married that says she's going to have a baby?" TK asked.

"Um…that's a different scenario. Which you will not repeat."

"Why not?"

"It just isn't good."

"Why not?"

"Um…birth control?"

"Oh. I have another question."

"If it has to do with babies, ask Dad. I'm going to go to bed."

"Matt, why do people get married? Can't they just be best friends all their life?"

"TK, marriage means more than just friendship."

"What else does it mean?"

"Ask Dad, okay?"

"But he's divorced…"

"…good point. Just, ask me again in a few years. 'Kay?"

"Sure."

He then proceeded to climb into my bed next to me. Surprised, I scooted over, making room for both him and his partner.

"Matt?"

"Yeah, TK?"

"You're the best big bro around!"

I smiled. "And you're the best little brother."

**I love those two…not as much as the Kari/Tai siblingness, but it is pretty close…**

**Yeah, I know, not a great chapter, but I'm feeling guilty for not updating. My goal is as many of these (along with as many of If Digimon Could Type) in year…so these might last a while…if you have any good prompts for me, please tell me…I don't want to run out of ideas! **


	14. Breathing Exercises

**I hadn't intended it to become randomness…but there you have it. A lot of things happen that I don't intend to happen.**

**This idea was created on a two-hour long bus trip to a high school for a marching band festival…that might explain where the idea came from…**

**Oh, and because it was annoying me to not knowing how this fit in at all, imagine that this is what the original seven kids are doing on that bus ride back from the camp after it was closed for 'snow.' And right before they went looking for the 8****th**** child…this is one of my only 'hahas' that is put in a different order… **

**Enjoy! As always! **

It was going to be a long trip home.

From the moment that Izzy had got on the bus, he had realized that today was going to be a long enough day as it was, let alone for what was about to happen. After escaping back to the real world via Myotismon's castle, you'd think that he would be completely happy to just sit back and relax and enjoy the company of his friends before the search began…

But Izzy had several questions that needed answering, and he planned to use the long bus trip as the time to find those answers.

Number one: what made the seven of them the Digidestined? What was the common thread that connected them, besides camp and the same group…Izzy refused to believe that camp was the only reason. There had to be something else…maybe something else connected them during their time at Heighton View Terrace…

Izzy decided to do some therapy-derived brain excercises he had learned from Joe…breathing in and out slowly to stimulate calmness.

Face forward, stretching your neck…in…out…

In the chair in front of Izzy, TK was complaining, something he hadn't done since entering the Digiworld. "Matt, I'm bored! Can't I at least play with Patamon…?"

"TK, you know we can't. They have to be stuffed animals!"

"But I'm bored!"

In…out…now face beside you…

Next to Izzy (I've no idea the actual seating arrangement, so bear with me!), Tai was playing 'football' with a folded triangular piece of paper. He kept on aiming at something behind them.

"I've almost got it. Come on…hey, Joe, can you throw that back? I missed my aim! Yeah, um, sorry about hitting your head…"

"Tai, stop throwing papers around…"

In…out…now face the opposite direction…

Sora was watching both her In-Training Digimon and Mimi's…since Mimi was in the back with her friends, she didn't want to risk them seeing her new 'toy' and becoming possessive of it. She was the only quiet one of the bunch.

In…out…now face behind you…stretch…

Mimi was loudly talking to her group of friends about how much she missed them all…Izzy kept on flinching, expecting one of them to realize that Mimi really had been gone for a long time…but they remained silent, only casting worried glances at each other between Mimi's pauses for air.

In…out…now face forward, fully expanding your chest…

"Matt, I'm bored!"

"Okay, okay! Calm down! How 'bout I teach you a song?"

"Okay!"

"_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves! Everybody's nerves. Everybody's nerves! I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, and this—is—how—it—goes!"_

In…out…face beside you…

Tai aimed again for the back of the bus. "Tai! Stop hitting me!"

"Sorry, Joe! Hey, can you throw that back?"

"Will you hit me again?"

"I'm seriously not aiming for you!"

In…out…

"_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves! Everybody's nerves. Everybody's nerves! I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, and this—is—how—it—goes!"_

In…out…

"Joe, please throw it back?"

"Tai, that's the third time now!"

In…out…

"And I didn't even have make-up or a brush with me!"

"…who gave Mimi caffeine…?"

In…out…

"_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves! Everybody's nerves. Everybody's nerves! I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, and this—is—how—it—goes!"_

In…out…

"Score!"

"Tai, why did you throw that on my hat?"

"Sorry, Mimi…"

"Tai, that was your scoreboard?"

"Yeah…"

"I don't believe you!"

In…out…

"_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves! Everybody's nerves. Everybody's nerves! I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, and this—is—how—it—goes!"_

In…

"BE QUIET!"

The bus turned silent.

The teacher came forward. "Anything wrong, Izzy?"

Izzy turned a deep red color, aware of Monimon staring at him from his lap. "No, sir. Just doing breathing exercises."

**I know Joe would more likely do something like this, but I've had to many chapters with him as main character…plus, I can imagine Izzy doing something like this, can't you?**

**Oh, and in band we really do stuff like this…without the chaotic background…**


	15. Random Facts about Life

**So, these are random bits and pieces of strange truths and opinions for how the characters' lives have changed after their adventure, when their lives are re-intertwined with pop culture. None of these ideas were long enough for an actual chapter, though I might use them as a joke along the line. Um, enjoy…**

That 'when pigs can fly' saying no longer applies. (Patamon…see my point?)

TK will never be a fan of mushrooms…(Episode 'Forget About It', Demidevimon tries to feed him mushrooms of forgetfulness…yeah.)

Beetles will scare most of them. (Kuwagamon…I'm not counting Kabuterimon.)

Kari, Mimi, and Sora will never be Twilight fans. (Myotismon was a vampire…oh, and I don't mind Twilight. Honestly!)

Joe, Tai, or Izzy will look in each refrigerator in a home supplies store for eggs. (Okay, that was pushing it, but, well, what episode was that? I don't remember…one of the first thirteen, okay?)

Mythology will be well known. (Centaurumon, Unimon, need I continue?)

That 'everyone has his or her own guardian angel' line really does apply to TK and Kari…(Angemon and Angewomon)

Why on Earth (or the Digiworld) did Pinnochio, a puppet, get eaten by a whale? Whales were where the Destined hid, not Puppetmon…! (Sorry, but I had to. Puppetmon and Whamon, in case you lost that analogy.)

Mimi will never feel safe at a vending machine. (After all, Numamon frequent them, don't they?)

TK will make his brother stay next to him at the amusement park. (Another 'Forget About It' reference…I miss that swan paddleboat, don't you? Which leads to the next one…)

Matt will have to buy a swan paddleboat. I'll make him. Want to help me harass him into buying it?

Teddy bears will never seem as safe as they once were. (Monzaemon to Warumonzaemon—teddies are evil, huh?)

Ghost costumes during Halloween will scare them, especially Sora. (Bakemon.)

In my fantasies, they go to the summer camp again the following year, and go on an adventure before 02…so, yeah, summer camp. =)

Haunted houses really do exist. (Devimon's castle. I don't think they would like Halloween that much…)

Monkeys will never be cute and cuddly again. (Etemon. Had to mention him.)

A bad rock song will be referred to as 'worthy of Etemon'. (Had to include that.)

One day, Tai will actually use those goggles of his to protect his eyes. Until then, that headband looks nice.

6:06:06 will never be a good time. (Oh, and how on Earth or the Digiworld did the dub manage to include that on a kids' show? Bad censoring on someone's part…lots of laughing on ours…)

Tai won't play soccer unless he's sure it's safe. (That Skullgreymon ep.)

On a more serious note…

Tai will always be a good leader.

Matt will always be a good friend, and play music…after all, Gabumon always loved his playing.

Sora will be on a great relationship with her mom.

Izzy will remember that friends are more important than research. (At least, one day he'll realize that…)

Mimi will always be sincere…even if it means being rude to say what she means.

Joe will still be a worrier, but he's reliable. Even if only for a joke…sorry, Joe. We all still love you!

TK will try to see Matt more…brothers are so cute together!

Kari will always try to help out…and, according to 02, she'll remain quiet(-ish) and reserved.

And, overall, we'll all love Digimon!

**How did that turn mushy? Didn't see that coming…**

**Yeah. I might make something like this randomly, if I can think of anymore…that aren't as pathetic as some of these. Like I said before, none of these ideas were exactly long enough for a chapter, though I might still make them into chaps for this anyway…yeah, I came up with this last night. It was pretty fun. Can you think of any more?**

**Thanks for reading, and thanks to all who want to review…remember, reviews are what we writers write for…that and to tell someone our views.**

**Oh, and muchos thanks to Dreams on Wings and Hedgi for all that help with Chemistry…I think I passed that test! Yay! =) (I'm in a smiley mood right now…)**


	16. Rock Paper Scissors Decisions

**I'm surprised at myself…I'm starting to actually place these fics somewhere besides just after 01 in my parallel universe…so this one is any random night during the Dark Masters continuation before…well, I guess maybe before they enter Puppetmon's forest. Does that make sense…?**

I couldn't believe it. Honestly? I mean, really?

I always wondered how they, meaning Tai and Matt, managed to decide the order in which we took watch. I just thought that the two of them were being strategic in an unknown way. But now, I knew the truth…and I can't say I could believe my eyes when I saw what they were doing.

Sora was collecting twigs with TK for a fire, gathering them into a small pile at the entrance of the cave we found, where we would spend the night hidden from any unfriendly Digimon's eyes. Mimi was playing with Kari's short hair, complaining that Sora would never let her take that hat off. Izzy was researching something or another, as usual. And I had been collecting fruit with Palmon and Gatomon when I saw what the two boys were doing inside the cave.

Both had their hands out in front of them, with one palm face up and the other hand in a fist.

"One, two, three!" As the blonde and the brunette said each number, they would hit their fist onto their palms lightly.

And then, a millisecond after 'three,' Tai's hand went into a horizontal peace sign…the two first fingers were sticking out. Matt's fist went as flat as his other hand.

The two boys stared at each other for a second; then Matt groaned. Tai, on the other hand, started doing a bad victory dance…

"I won! I won! Ha! Beat that, Ishida!"

Matt buried his face in his hands. "Just give the order, already…" he mumbled.

Tai stopped jumping up and down and put his hand on his chin, suddenly thoughtful. "Um…wasn't it Izzy, you, Joe, and last me?"

Matt looked up. "Yeah, I think so…we need a better way of seeing it besides using sticks…"

"I agree with you there…

"I'm so tired…and you gave me one of the watches that will get the least amount of sleep…"

"I know, right? So, how are we going to decide for next time, since I powned you at Rock Paper Scissors?"

That was when I decided to step in. I was still skeptical as to what was going on. "Hey, what are you guys discussing?"

Tai started when I stepped in, then he looked around sheepishly. "Um…deciding the watch duty…"

I felt momentarily angry. "So I don't get a say at all?"

Matt looked at the ground. "No, man, but, well…we know you don't like being put on the spot and all, so, well, we've been, um, creating the order…"

A sudden thought occurred to me. "Do you always decide how it is by Rock Paper Scissors?" I moved my glasses up a little.

Now Matt looked at the ceiling. "No…um, last night we did it by Tic Tac Toe…"

I squinted. "How does that even work?"

"Um…well, we play games, and see how much somebody wins by. One is Tai. Two is me. Three is Izzy. Four is you. Then we calculate the order using an equation we came up with…"

I whistled. "Sounds complicated." Tai smiled. Then I continued. "But do you honestly just choose it that randomly?"

"Well…yeah?"

I shook my head, fully determined to ask Izzy if he could help me overthrow those two to become leaders of the group. We needed people with more skill then stupid games. "Well, if you two are done deciding the night shift, want to come and do something productive, like collecting food? Since we sort of all thought you two were discussing battle strategy…"

Both boys started to stand. "Sure thing," Tai said, that grin back on his face.

As I left the cave with the two 'leaders' in tow, though, I could have sworn that Tai said, "Matt, how about we use Hangman tomorrow?"

I just sighed and shook my head. Maybe I wasn't leader yet because I was the only member of the group who wasn't entirely insane…

**I know, random, right? But, hey, it is a little fun to imagine…**

**Oh, and if you prefer that this wasn't part of my randomness that happens in the show, then you can create it as a dream…don't say that I did something that would never happen. In a parallel world, it could…if I got my hands on that time machine and dimension hopper…!**

**Thanks for reading, and for those who are nice enough to review! **


	17. Making Phone Calls

**I would have made a new story for this, and I still might, but for now it remains an ironic Haha moment I came up with a few months ago, and never wrote down. Technically, this could very plausibly have happened…right? Anyone? No one?**

**Background: This is during 01 (duh) when Mimi and Sora are entering the tower thingy…Matt and TK went searching, and Izzy and Tai partnered up to search for the eighth child. Well, Joe was making the phone calls to see if any kid they knew also had lived in Heighten View Terrace, or Hikarigaoka if you prefer. So this is a random thing that I thought would have been super funny…I have more things like this, by the way.**

_Okay. Fifty phone calls done, a lot more to go…_

Sighing, I looked at Sora's phone book. I had decided to start with hers, because, 1, if I started with mine, I would have to talk with kids who actually knew me, which would be just a little embarrassing. 2, Sora's book was the neatest. I mean, Mimi's had swirlies and numbers circled so many times in pink marker that I couldn't read it. Matt's and TK's both appeared to have gone through a blender, Izzy's looked as though it had math notes scribbled on it, and Tai's wasn't currently in my possession. So I was starting with Sora's.

Every conversation started out basically the same: _Hello, this is Joe Kido. I'm doing a research survey for this summer school class…did you happen to live in Heighten View Terrace about four years ago? Why? Um…I'm studying emigration and immigration in accordance with worldly news…_

Or, sometimes, if I got a parent, it went like this…

_Hello? Did you live in…wait, I'm not selling anything! No, I don't know Kathy/Sally/Sarah…listen, ma'am, I'm not interested in your daughter! I don't even know her! Look, it's a simple question…_

That was usually the time when he/she hung the phone up, and I was left to listen to a ring tone while sinking in embarrassment.

Overall, out of fifty calls so far (fifty! My dad was going to kill me when he got the phone bill…), two of which were students who had moved to someplace else, thirty-eight were cooperative, and none of them had lived there four years ago.

_Fifty children can be scratched off of the list. Maybe…_

Okay. My time for depression was over. I had to find that kid. I started dialing the next number without even looking at the name, but I was in the 'Ks' by now for Sora's class from last year…

_Ring! Ring! Ring! Ri…_

"Hello?"

A young girl's voice sounded on the phone, small and innocent. Good. I wouldn't have to ask the parent anything…

"Hello. I'm Joe Kido…would you mind telling me if you lived in Heighten View Terrace about four years ago?"

Silence on the other end; I feared the girl had gone running for her mother. I wasn't the best with kids. I was trying to come up with a good excuse for my question when…

"Yeah, I lived there four years ago. At least, that's what my brother says. I was really young then…but I remember seeing m—."

_Finally! Someone who had lived there! _ I looked down at the page to see who the student was, and accidentally dropped the phone for a moment. As a result, I sort of missed what she said next, but I didn't care too much. Let's see…who is this? I scrolled down the phone book for the right number, number 51…

Oops. 'Kamiya.' I knew that name.

"Um, are you by any chance related to Taichi?" I asked, my throat starting to grow a lump.

"Yes, Tai's my older brother. I'm Hikari, Kari for short," she said.

"…never mind. Sorry for disturbing you." Without waiting for a response, I hung the phone up.

I had forgotten that Tai had said that he had a little sister. And, while a part of me told me that she being the eighth digidestined was entirely plausible, the majority of me told myself that Tai would have realized if she was. He was the leader, right?

So I let that conversation go. Let's see, number 52…

**I know, the ending was sort of pathetic, but this is basically how I imagine it. Wouldn't that have been fun? I mean, most of the fanwriters agree that Tai, Sora, and Matt all were in the same class, and that Tai and Izzy knew each other from the soccer team. So it would make sense that Sora had Tai's number…**

**Oh, and reviews are appreciated. Really, I would write a lot more if I got more reviews for each chapter. Not that I don't appreciate those that I get, but…=/**


	18. Computer Caps

**Thanks to all who reviews/favorited/whatever else! That is why this is on so soon…a hint for the future. Now I'm feeling mean by making you do stuff before I upload…sorry! But I'm happy now, because school today was actually okay, I'm listening to a new Irish band my cousin sent me the CD of, I have a colorful package sitting next to me from said cousin waiting for me to open, though I'll probably leave it until Saturday, for my b-party, …and I had some reviews to respond to!**

_Randomly sometime in the Digiworld, probably during Etemon arc…yes, I'm going to start listing when these take place. Some won't have a time, but some will, so you might like to know when and where…_

You've got to be kidding.

That pineapple logo stared up at me, seeming to smirk at my distress.

It was being mean to me. When did I ever do anything bad to it? I made sure that it had batteries, I polished the keyboard regularly, I even kept it away from dangerous Tai's, who thought the way to fix electronics was to hit them. Hit them! The horror! You wouldn't hit a dog or a baby if it did something wrong, so why was hitting a metal encased semi-wireless portable computer acceptable!

I never did anything wrong to it, and now it wouldn't let me log into my server.

I was stuck on the load-up page, staring at my username typed precariously in. Everything was right. IZUMI01. But it wouldn't accept my password.

And without a home connection, I would have to keep on trying since I couldn't send myself my password without an internet connection to access it.

I tried again. And again. And again. To no avail.

The other's appeared not to notice my distress. At least, at first they didn't. But I guess I got noticeable when, in our current camp site, I started kicking a nearby rock, nearly breaking my toe.

"Izzy, what are you doing?"

I looked down from massaging my poor foot. It was TK, looking concerned. "Nothing," I sighed, sitting down again. TK kneeled down next to me.

"You have to be doing something."

I started trying my password again. "Well, TK, my laptop won't let me access my profile. I could just use a normal profile, but I set the computer to erase any contents on it every other day, and my actual profile contains some information about this world that I want to analyze again."

TK frowned. "Why can't you get in?"

"Well, it keeps on saying that my password is inaccurate…"

"Oh." He sat down and looked at my keyboards. Almost suddenly, his eyes widened, and he said, "Is it supposed to be all big letters?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you have that little button highlighted that greenish-yellow color, and Mommy taught me that it creates big letters…"

I looked toward where he was pointing. Sure enough, the caps-lock was on. I felt myself going red as I pressed the button to undo caps.

I tried my password. *******

_Welcome, Izzy…_

I looked at TK, who was smiling, and said as seriously and strictly as I could, "Don't ever tell anyone else what just happened. Okay?"

"Sure thing! Bye, Izzy!"

He ran off to do whatever he did with the others. I bent down, glared at my laptop for a few minutes, then started accessing files again.

**I know, Izzy is pretty OOC in this one, but really this kind of thing happens to me all the time. Well, it hasn't happened recently, but last year this was a pretty regular occurrence when accessing Itunes. You know how when you redeem a code, it's in caps? Well, I always forgot to undo caps when typing my password in…**

**Can you guess what Izzy's password is? Big hint: it's something he uses in If Digimon Could Type…lol. Maybe I can get you to read that story, despite the fact I haven't updated it lately and it is more popular than this story…hey, I can hope, right?**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, and thanks in advance to all who feel the need to review. Which will be all of you, right? =)**


	19. The Pata, the Cap, and the Backpack

…**Do you see what happens when my inbox overflows with reviews and favorites? I write more. Oh, and I will stop harassing you all for more support…that should be an unsaid statement, but I shouldn't be writing for responses. If and when I write an actual story, I shouldn't be all pouty when it isn't instantly a best-seller (which it will be…right?).**

**Anyway, this is a thanks to all who reviewed my last chapter, and/or the last chapter for If Digimon Could Type…both may be random, but I couldn't write either without support for at least one. This idea came involuntarily from a review for my last chapter in IDCT (I'm getting tired of spelling that out…) Thanks, Hedgi! You should write something with your own idea on why…**

_As always, usually, this is after 01, with the kids still with their Digimon in the real world._

"Do I have to go, Matt?"

"Teeks, you've been playing here for three hours! What will Mom say?"

"That she loves you for taking me off her shoulders for once?"

"Ah, good try, buddy. But no. Plus, Tai is boring my to death!"

Tai looked up from his television, where a soccer game was being played. "Hey, don't blame me for beating you twice at that Guitar Hero!"

Matt shot a wry glance at him, and then turned down to the little boy. "Sorry, TK, but we have to be going."

TK looked down, his small face turning from an exuberant smile to a slight pout. "But it's fun here…"

"TK, we all have to make sacrifices. Now, where is Patamon?"

Suddenly, Kari came running forward, her brown hair bobbing up and down. "Do you have to go?"

"Yes…" came a voice. But not from TK.

"Patamon? Where are you?"

"I'm right here…"

This time the voice appeared to come from TK's hat.

"What the…" said Matt, before reaching and taking the small ball cap off of the shorter blonde's head.

And, somehow, miraculously, a white and tannish ball was lying in the accessory.

"?"

Patamon started squirming, trying to get out of the space obviously too small for him. Through the combined efforts of TK, Kari, Matt, and Tai, who had abandoned the soccer game to see what the confusion was all about, the guinea pig-like creature was eventually excavated from the now wrinkly hat.

"TK, why was Patamon in your hat?"

A good question, huh?

"…um," the little boy began, before bursting out laughing. Kari, who was only not laughing through much difficulty, told the story. "Well, Patamon saw that it was raining outside, and he didn't want to get wet, so he wanted to get under TK's hat, but TK wanted his hat on his head, so we stuffed Patamon in the hat so both could remain dry."

Matt looked at Tai. Tai looked at Matt. Both of their looks conveyed the same meaning. _"Why are our siblings so strange?"_

Then Tai pointed out the obvious. "Um, not trying to be rude here, but why didn't Patamon just go inside TK's backpack?"

TK and Kari shared a solemn look. Then, both, at the same time, said in a low voice, "You must not disturb the bag."

"Huh?"

Both children burst out laughing. Tai half smiled. Matt looked at his watch.

"Okay, TK, now we are way late. Come on, let's go."

And with that, he pulled the young boy out the door, him screaming good-bye's to Kari and Tai.

**What on Earth was that all about? I have no idea, but I do promise a sister story to explain Teek and Kar's strangeness to come out tomorrow. It will hopefully explain what they did on the 'play date,' how Patamon fit into a small baseball cap, and why the 'bag must not be disturbed.' Because I have no clue what that was about.**

**Anyway, I want to know why Gatomon commented on the bag being so heavy when they were running from Piedmon. Any ideas? **


	20. The Backpack and the Cap and the Pata

**Hi! Sorry I didn't upload yesterday, but I completely ran out of time. I was up til 2 in the morning reading a book, so…yeah. Warning: I got less then six hours of sleep, so let's see what I write this time…**

**I'm so happy! My inbox is full of reviews and such! Keep it up! Remember: a review a day keeps the guilt away! I just came up with that now…I think I'll start using it. Even though I can't make you guilty with puppy eyes since this site doesn't have webcam…**

**As promised, this is the sister chapter to the last one…oh, and as of this moment, I have no idea what is going to happen. I'll see as I'm writing it, and I'll be pleased. I usually am.**

I hated rain. I wasn't made for rain. I was made for long relaxing days in the hot sun, sipping on a Coke while playing board games with TK. I wouldn't have minded splashing around in the pool, or ocean, as the case may be, but water from the sky? It just wasn't natural.

And now I was covered with it.

"Why…is…rain…so…wet…" I shivered, even though I was inside TK's grasp so as to get rid of suspicion that I was anything more than a sweet and innocent 'demented guinea pig toy,' as TK liked to tell people when they saw him holding me. The disguise worked, but I was still soaked, as was TK and Matt from the brisk run from the bus stop to the Kamiya's apartment. Gabumon had decided to stay home when he saw the clouds over head, complaining that his fur coat didn't dry well. If I'd have known I would have gotten soaked, I would have stayed home too.

Anyways, now we were huddled under a balcony, preparing to make the last part of the journey to get into the cover of the complex building. Matt looked around a few times, his light hair darkened from the wetness. TK was panting beside him.

"Patamon, water is wet because…because…well, it just is. And you're heavy. Have you been sneaking midnight snacks again?"

I pouted, and my ears/wings flopped even lower than before. "Um, well, chocolate is just so good! I can't help it…it calls to me…"

Matt sighed, still trying to see through the pounding rain. "Patamon, I can see that coming out of Agumon's mouth, but not yours. Anyway, let's make a run for it…right…now!"

With that, the two boys, plus me huddled in the smaller one's grip, ran twenty feet, up some stairs, and straight forward, as if an angry Scorpiomon was chasing us _(is that his name? I forgot…)_

We reached a door slightly protected by a balcony…not by much, since the wind was coming right at us. Matt pounded on the door, so loudly I was afraid the door would break. However, his 'knocking' on the door seemed to work, and in a few seconds it was opening to show the big haired leader.

Without any of the usual formalities when visiting a home, Matt rushed TK inside, closing the door quickly behind him. Once inside, he preceded to the bathroom, emerging with two towels, throwing one at TK and me.

"Hey! Ishida, you're not even going to ask for towels?"

Matt started drying his hair. "Kamiya, you'd have said yes anyway, so I just saved myself some talking with wet clothes on."

Tai struggled to come up with a good comeback, but failed with his finger raised in warning. "Ishida, at least set a good example for TK."

Matt just shrugged. "Hey, TK knows that I know you reasonably well, so all's well that ends dry…"

Just then, Kari came running into the room. "Hi, Matt! Hi, TK! Hi, Patamon!"

"Hi, Kari!" TK said, sounding hyper. I hoped he didn't have his mom's coffee. I had tried that stuff once, and, according to an amused TK after the incident, I had been bouncing off the walls in delight.

"Now, you three go play. Patamon, Agumon is sleeping on the bed, so he could keep you company. Mom shouldn't be home until late, and Dad went on a business meeting, so we shouldn't have to worry about hiding you, but still…" Tai said, smiling at his sister.

"Okay, Tai! See ya!" She replied, leading TK and me toward a door farther down the hall. We entered the room, and I flew out of TK's arms, splattering water all over the place as I mounted on a post on the bunk-bed. From there, I started to shake the water off. After all, TK hadn't let me use the towel…

"Hey, why's it raining inside? Is there a leak?" came the thin voice of Agumon, who happened to have been lying on the bottom bunk.

"Ooops, sorry about that," I said, not feeling sorry at all. I was dryer, so I was elated.

Of course, after Kari let me eat some of her mom's freshly baked cookies (chocolate chip, which Kari explained were the only edible food in the house right now), I was sound asleep next to Agumon, exhausted from the fierce battle with the elements. TK would later say that I hadn't had to run at all, but there's only so much a 'mon could take!

Of course, I woke up to Matt yelling that we were leaving in ten minutes.

Great. A perfect opportunity to have fun, and I was too tired to enjoy it.

I looked around me. A large pile of board games that looked haphazardly put away lay at the foot of the bed, along with a small pile of army figurines and a mountain of crumpled up Kleenex. I wondered what I missed.

Then I heard it. That incessant pinging. I immediately shivered.

"TK, I'm not going back in the rain! Why can't your dad drive us?"

TK looked up from where he and Kari were playing a clapping game. "Um, I think he has to work today."

"It's no fair! I don't want to get wet! I don't want to!"

TK sighed, and gave up clapping. Kari looked up too, her eyes kind and warm. "Maybe you could go in the backpack…"

"NO!" TK blurted out.

Kari frowned. "Why not? He could fit, and it would be easier than stuffing him in your hat…"

"I am not going in TK's hat!"

"Patamon is not going in my backpack!"

"Why not?"

"Um…well…" Of course, since TK didn't properly reply, Kari moved towards the backpack, opening it before he could stop her.

"Um…okay then. That's why your backpack is so heavy…"

"…yep."

They stood around awkwardly for a minute, so I decided to see what was in that backpack of his.

Okay then. I didn't expect that…

Inside the green bag were rocks. Tons of rocks.

"I thought Gatomon was joking when she said that it felt like you had bricks in there…"

"So, TK, why do you have rocks in your bag…?"

"Um…well…when we went into the Digiworld, and after Agumon depleted my supply of candy, I started picking up rocks. I mean, they are just so colorful and cool! See, there's a shell from the beach where we first spent the night, and there's a brick from Devimon's castle…this is from the wreckage from VenimMyotismon, and this is just a cool rock I found yesterday!"

"…okay then. I won't touch the sacred backpack of a rock collection again. How do you even carry it?"

"…why do you think I got Matt to give me a piggy back ride so much?"

Anyway, despite the fact that TK was lugging around a bunch of rocks everywhere, I still had to go out in the rain.

So I did the natural thing. I began to cry.

"I…d-don't…w-want…to…go…out…in…th-the…r-rain…"

I guess I was really upset, because I ended up de-Digivolving.

And before I could work up what happened, Kari grabbed TK's hat off of his head and threw my diminished form in there.

And, of course, I Digivolved back almost instantly.

Great. Now I was stuck in a baseball cap.

As TK said as he squashed the cap, me and all, onto his head, it was a good thing I was similar to guinea pigs. At least I could fit into small spaces…

**Okay. That was longer than normal. What do you think? You know what happens next; Pata gets pulled out of the hat. I had planned for Gatomon coming in from the rain, but my sister wouldn't stop talking, and I had to get this up today, or rather, night.**

**Hope you enjoy! =)**


	21. An Abnormal Day: Thanks, animelover inf!

**Special thanks to animelvr inf for this idea…and for those great chats, please continue! Anyway, hope you like it! It may or may not be what you meant, but this is what comes when I try to write a suggestion.**

**Oh, btw, I don't mind suggestions. I have two more suggestion fics (soon I'll forget who gave the suggestion…Hedgi and Bearer of Stupidity, right?), so I will write a good fic idea if you give me one that you want to see done, but don't want to necessarily write yourself…**

**Here we go. Oh, and I need ideas for Halloween fics, which will be coming out next week, for both Haha and If Digimon Could Type, since I sort of interchange working on those two…**

_This is past, before Destined came in…wait, change that, there are only the seven of them and they are still searching around File Island…Devimon's still at large. I know, first big jump I've done, but animelover inf decided this would be best, and I sort of agree…_

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Who's there?" Came a deep voice from behind the heavily garnished door.

A little white cat started pushing open the door, a feat which took a few seconds to do properly. Before she could even create a space big enough for her, the voice yelled out, "Don't enter! Stop and tell me who you are!"

The little cat scowled. "It is I, lord Myotismon. Gatomon, your humble servant." Under her breath, she added, "Why do I keep doing this? I always come at this time; it shouldn't catch him off guard, especially when he asked me to come."

"Oh, Gatomon. Come in, but stay back."

Gatomon began pushing the door open again, and once a slim space was created, she squeezed through and let the door clang shut behind her.

"Lord Myotismon, you called for me…?"

He was standing with his back to her, looking toward a bookshelf. That in itself was not odd. He barely ever gave a creature the courtesy of a look when he summoned them.

However, he was standing very stiffly…

"Um, yes. I was wondering…can you get Wizardmon, please?"

"…sure."

She left, fuming. He only called her to go and get him? No new mission, nothing to do, just wait for him to call again…? How was that fair? Well, then again, when was Myotismon ever fair?

She found Wizardmon in the library a few minutes later, and rushed him out, remembering that Myotismon didn't like to be kept waiting. When they reached the door, they entered to find Myotismon in the same position as before.

"Yes, master? You called?"

"…I need help with…something."

"What is it that I can be of service to, my lord?"

"…" He turned around.

She tried so hard to not to laugh. Really, she did. She hadn't thought that it was possible for him to get…

Of course, on a normal day, he would have noticed her feeble attempts at keeping a straight face, but that day wasn't normal. He didn't look anywhere but at the ceiling while Wizardmon examined his face.

"Hmmm…how did you get this?"

"I thought that I could make it back to the castle before dawn, but I was a little too late…can you do anything to ease it?"

"Let me see what I can do." With that, Wizardmon began casting spells.

A few minutes later, when nothing seemed to be happening, Gatomon left the room, laughing hysterically as soon as she got out of his earshot. A few Bakemon passing looked at her in confusion, but she didn't stop until the last laugh left her. She hadn't been that amused since…well, since forever.

Because Myotismon had gotten a sunburn.

**I just realized what an awkward tan line that would make on his face…since that mask is always on…**

**Anyway, thank animelover inf for this. I personally thought it was a great idea, and I hope you enjoyed how I presented it, even if it isn't how this normally is…hey, it gives me another chapter. Less complaints about the time between my uploads…**

**Review, please? Animelover inf, you had better review. Even if it's to scream that I did it all wrong…please don't say I did it all wrong!**

**Oh, and other readers, if you'd be kind enough to say what you thought…and if I should make this one a sequel describing what Myo was thinking? Should I? Your decision…**

**Thanks for reading!**


	22. Naturally

**I decided ultimately against the Myotismon sequel chapter, despite the number that wanted it. I just didn't feel up to it, I've been doing too many partner chapters for a fic that is supposed to be full of one shots, and I couldn't think of a good way to present my ideas. So, sorry! I'll try to do some of the other suggestions I have soon, but I needed to write something a little more relaxing right now.**

_This is sometime in my parallel world of 01, you know, after 01 but before 02. I should give it a name so I don't have to keep explaining it. Any ideas?_

"Give it back! Tai, you're being mean!"

It had been a normal enough day. In fact, too normal. She should have seen it coming. School had passed by, and, naturally, she had gone over to the park to play soccer. And who should she find there but Tai and Matt.

She also should have seen it coming for that reason: Tai and Matt had been too quiet. Sure, normal bickering and name calling, but nothing unusual. This was the first day that week that they hadn't been at each other's throat for something or other. So it should have been obvious what they were going to do, but, naturally, it wasn't.

So she sat on a park bench, under the cover of a few trees away from the street, and took out her notebook.

It was a normal enough notebook; small with a brown cardboard cover and backing that fit perfectly in her back pocket along with a small mechanical pencil. Nothing out of the ordinary. Well, not for her, at least, but to her friends who had never seen it, it might have been different. So when she started sketch something on a page about halfway through the book, it attracted some unwanted attention.

"Sor, what are you doing?"

Sora looked up from her drawing. The two boys, Tai with the ball under his arm and Matt with his arms crossed, were directly in front of her. She jumped, naturally.

"Um. I'm, um, drawing…"

"Oooh! Let me see!" Tai, in his excitement, dropped the ball and grabbed for the notepad.

Naturally, Sora pulled it in the opposite direction.

And, as expected, Matt was ready to grab the pad as it came right at him. He caught it, and before either of the other two could get to him, ran behind the tree and looked at the drawing she had been working on.

"Matt, pass it over here!"

The notepad flew in the air, over Sora's head, landing in Tai's hands. He took a cursory glance before throwing it back to Matt. He fumbled with it before relishing a strong hold, and began flipping through the book before closing it and passing it back to Tai.

By now, Sora was mad. They were playing Monkey in the Middle with her notepad.

"Give it back! Tai, you're being mean! You too, Matt!"

"Oh, no no no, Sora, this is what comes of keeping secrets."

_Swish._

"Yeah. Oh, and great drawings by the way. Great shading on the…is that a plant, or a cat?"

_Swish._

"…I think it's a goldfish."

_Swish._

"…oh. I can sort of see it, but…yeah, work on the gills and fins a little more, please."

_Swi—snatch._

"Thank you, Biyomon." For Biyomon had flew over and grabbed the notebook before the game could continue.

"Hey, that's not fair! We don't have flying Digimon!"

"Your loss," Sora said, climbing a tree and sitting on the lowest branch, about five feet from the ground. "You just wish you had an awesome Digimon and the skills of drawing."

"…skills?"

Unfortunately, Tai didn't see the ball of paper until it hit him in the head.

**Okay, I know, different, but I really do imagine Sora as being artistic. I mean, her mom owns a flower shop/is a flower arranger, and later on, according to the show (although I don't agree), Sora supposedly becomes a fashion designer. So a little background, such as the knowledge of how to draw, would have helped. Sorry. Personal opinion.**

**Oh, and I realized, I've sort of made Matt and Tai into a comedy relief together. Don't worry, I'll get a little more of them with other characters soon. I think TK and Mimi need a chapter for them soon, though…I haven't done them in a while.**

**Reviews are loved. There is a little button right below this, just waiting to be clicked…! =)**


	23. Absolute Zero

**Why so many Haha's lately, with very few Chat's? I dunno. I guess I just got bored. Don't worry, I'll update that and the rest of my stories some time during fall break next week. Just be patient, please!**

**Oh, and what is this amazing story you're about to read? Um, for those who know, and those who don't, I hate chemistry, but sometimes I find something out that makes me want to scream at my own stupidity. So I realized this when Googling about it yesterday for a homework assignment. Time for Izzy and Joe!**

**Oh, and why is Izzy asking Joe for help when he's obviously a genius in the loose sense of the word? Well, um, I dunno. He just doesn't understand it. Kay?**

_Like someone suggested, my alt. time line is now called Digi 1.5. I'll update my profile with, under the story section, it explaining it for those who don't want to piece it together from my previous chapters._

"…Joe, can you help me with chemistry?"

"…sure thing, Izzy. Meet at the, um, let's say park in ten minutes. That okay?"

"Sure. I appreciate this."

See, I was good at most things; well, scratch that—I was pretty understanding of most of my classes. Especially math. But I was having trouble with this one thing: although chemistry is basically science added to algebraic concepts, I couldn't figure out these answers. My dad had borrowed my lap top to update with some new software, and I had left my textbook at school, so here I was, walking to the park, asking Joe for help with science. I doubted, if I had asked Matt or Tai, if they would have let me live it down. Luckily, I knew that Joe would comply with helping me without the other remarks.

We met at the park, and proceeded to a bench. It was reasonably warm out, so I had no problem with working outside.

Joe was the first to break the silence. "So, Izzy, what do you need help with?"

I started to blush. I'd never been asked that question before. "…um. Not so much help as aid."

Joe looked confused for a moment. "…okay. What can I aid you with?"

I blushed even deeper. "…not so much aid as general idealization."

"…okay…"

"…not so much that as I assistance. More like each of us attributing our knowledge to deepen both understandings…"

"Izzy, just spit it out. I won't tell Tai or the others. Is that it?"

"…why, yes. Yes it is."

Joe looked at me, exasperated. "Izzy, just what is that you want to know?"

I shuffled in my seat. "Well, this question is asking for the volume of a gas at absolute zero. I've tried using this graph to calculate the answer, but it doesn't make sense. How can a mass have no volume?"

Joe chuckled, and I reddened even more. "Izzy, you can't have a gas at absolute zero."

I frowned. "Why not?"

"Because, at absolute zero, there is no movement. Gases are full of particles constantly moving. At the point in absolute zero, those particles would turn into a solid."

Great. That made perfect sense. Now I felt stupid, another thing that didn't happen often. "Oh. Okay then. That's all."

Joe smiled. "Okay. See ya, then."

"Bye."

I hated science. Really.

But sometimes it could have its practical uses.

"Koushiro Izumi, what in the world are you doing with the refrigerator open like that?"

"…trying to reach absolute zero…"

"Why?"

"…because then I wouldn't have to face school knowing that I couldn't figure out an easy concept."

**Who'd have thought a story and a science lesson? Oh, and if this concept isn't correct, please tell me! Science is not my strong subject! But I did Google it yesterday, and I think that that is the reasoning…**

**I know that you can't reach absolute zero by having a freezer open. Duh. Izzy knows that too. He's trying to stop blushing so much. =)**

**Reviews are loved by all, both the reviewer and the reviewee…is that a word? It should be…**


	24. Autumn Fall

**I know. I'm mean. It's been a few days since I uploaded. Thanks to the reviewers that keep on reviewing…if not for them, the rest of you wouldn't get this.**

**Oh, and I've created a few polls. Please vote on them! I could use some, ahem, guidance about what to write right now…**

**Enjoy!**

_**Set in Digi.5, courtesy of…Wynter Soldier…since I promised I would give you the credit…**_

Seriously? I mean, seriously? Did I have to have horrible luck? Was it the curse of being a cat?

I mean, Kari had let me go out by myself after tons of complaining and compromising…she thought that someone would be able to tell that I wasn't a real world cat. Well, I guess that the ears are a little different, and, sure, a tail isn't supposed to be purple, but I was able to go out in public before as a stray cat, and it worked well enough.

Of course, she had to remind me that she had been able to recognize me as a Digimon, but, still, that's a small detail. She had seen Digimon before, so it wasn't my beauty's fault…

I had had to promise not to talk (unless I faked a meow, which Kari said I did badly), not to walk on two legs (how does Miko manage to run on four legs? I keep on tripping! Maybe it's the gloves…), and to return before it got dark. Easy enough to promise. I just needed some fresh air, and since Kari wasn't feeling up to a walk, I went running to the park by myself.

It had been a brisk fall day; the leaves were just turning, and the scent of fresh air was high and abundant. Peaceful. I climbed a tree, and got ready for what would hopefully be a relaxing nap in the fresh air and natural world.

Of course, that was when it all went against me. The world is so mean at times!  
So, to begin with, the branch I decided to reside on kept on getting rained on by stupid dead leaves. Sure, I like fall…what do you think that last paragraph was about? But getting dead leaves all stuck up in your fur…ugh! Then, once the wind died down and I thought the leaves would stop attacking me, I found myself face to face with a squirrel. Apparently, it had never seen a cat like me before (who has?), and decided I was worthy of investigation. Unfortunately.

Yeah. It is a little disconcerting to wake up from a trial nap to a big ball of brown fur and a bushy tail staring at you, standing utterly still. I told it nicely (a.k.a. I said, "Buzz off, hairy!") to leave me alone, and it scampered higher up the tree.

At that point I sort of gave up on the nap. It would be easier to nap at home, and, anyway, at the Kamiya's apartment, I could at least get tons of petting from Kari, which I was a sucker for though hopefully nobody knew. Instead, I decided to go hunting.

I'm a cat. Digi or not, I'm still a cat. So mice are rather tasty. Kari was entirely against me hunting except at the park, though, so I relished the rare moments when I was allowed to go and test my natural instinct.

I didn't have to wait long for an opportunity to arise. After a brief prowl, I saw a little mouse scampering around an empty field in the middle of a thicket of trees. Perfect. I approached, being careful to make no sound. Four paws are good for stealth, actually. More balance, and, being closer to the ground, I could see what noisy obstacles I should avoid.

There was no way it could have heard me. But it must have, since once I got close enough to pounce it, it scampered off. I led a pursuit, and I caught it pretty quickly. I was feeling merciful, so I didn't kill it…immediately. Instead I held the poor thing in my paws, watching it fruitlessly try to escape. I almost felt sorry for it.

That is, until it did the unimaginable and bit me.

It didn't even try to bite my gloves…instead, it went straight for my arms. It didn't hurt, but still…no prey had ever bitten me before! It managed to escape as I was completely flummoxed (big boy word…I've been hanging around Izzy too much…), and I let it go. No point chasing an idiotic mouse. No need to further reduce my dignity.

Anyway, if those two occurrences had been the bad points of the day, I would have been okay. Nothing major.

Of course, I am an unlucky cat, it seems. I called the day quits after a run in with a too-friendly human girl who wanted to cuddle me…a.k.a. squeeze me to death; after a swing hit me in the face (still not sure how that happened); and after an unfortunate run in with the lake and its inhabitants. So I headed for home, soaked and dejected, ready for a hug from my partner.

I didn't notice rain that started pouring. I was already wet, and I didn't care, anyway.

So I walked into the apartment, trailing water behind me.

"Gatomon, is that you? You look awful…come here!" I ran to Kari for the hug I knew I would get. Everything was alright again.

"Hey, Kari," I heard Tai saying as the apartment door opened again and the bushy-haired human started to enter, "I got you a…" _Splat!_

Ooops. Maybe that was why water and smooth surfaces didn't mix. I ran to lay on the couch as Kari went to help pick up her brother and the bag of groceries that had made a pretty design on the floor.

**I know, first time using a Digimon as the main-character-voice! That was fun…sorry, Gatomon! I'll make it up to you somehow!**

**I should be studying for a history test, but I didn't want to. So if I fail the test tomorrow, it's your entire fault…just kidding! I should do fine…maybe. Hopefully. Possibly. Review to keep my spirits up! =D**


	25. Report Card

**Real life experience. That's all I'll say up here. I know, I'm doing school stuff a lot, but I am in school.**

Oh no. I knew I did bad. I just knew it.

Immediately, I reprimanded myself. It should be 'badly,' not 'bad.'

If I couldn't even get simple sentence structure down, how badly did my grades turn up as?

I couldn't even think straight as I listened to the teacher calling off the names for each of us to collect our report cards for the first nine weeks. Wait. Not our. His or her. Subject/pronoun agreement. I blushed as I thought about how bad I was doing grammatically. That had better not have foreshadowed how my grade would be!

The teacher listed off the names. "Jackomis, Jaclyn. Janda, Amy. Kido, Joe."

I stood up and straightened my vest and shirt, feeling my face get even redder. Taking deep breaths and reminding myself that I had been through worse than getting a report card, I grabbed the envelope with a shaking hand and sat back down. I knew it. I knew I did badly. Well, no point hurrying it. I put it into my bag and, once the bell rang, took my time leaving the building and going home.

Of course, someone was waiting by the door.

"Hey, Joe, how did you do? Can I see, please?" Gomamon bombarded me before I had even slipped my shoes off.

"I don't know how I did, Goma. I haven't opened it yet. And I don't want to open it."

That didn't deter the seal-like Digimon. "I'm sure you did fine, Joe. You were studying so much last week, it's a wonder you got any sleep at all! I know I didn't."

"Hey! Number one, study or not, I probably did horrible. Number two, if I was bugging you, you could have just left the room. I'm sure my sock drawer would have been quite comfortable."

"You're kidding right? Your socks are very uncomfortable…that's not the point. If you won't look at your scores, at least let me!"

"No way, I—." Remind me never to get a dog. Not that it could be faster than Gomamon when he wants to be and doesn't complain for a minute. Fast as I'd ever seen him, he snatched the envelop out of my bag and tore off with it.

I held chase, but I failed. Ten minutes later, I found him sitting on top of my dresser—still don't know how he got up there—frowning slightly at the confidential paper in front of him.

"Give me that! No, wait…how did I do?"

"Um…well…maybe you should see for yourself. And sit down, please. You look faint enough as it is," he said, handing the paper to me.

I took it, and, hesitantly, unfolded it. After reading it, I turned to my Digimon.

"Did you have to make it sound as if I failed every class?"

"Well, yeah, what's the fun of telling the truth?"

"Ugh. I did horrible."

"Joe, straight A's and A-'s are perfectly fine, you know."

"Not for medical school."

"Joe, you worry too much."

"Tell me about it."

"Uh, I just did."

**Mmmmm. Currently eating a chocolate chip pancake. I'll offer a bite to anyone who reviews…wait, this world hasn't yet come up with the ability to send things via the internet. Nevermind. Well, I'll offer you an electronically created data piece of the pancake…any takers? (:::) See! Isn't that a chocolate chip pancake? Not really…well, anyway, still review! **


	26. Sneaking

**All I can say is: REAL LIFE EVENT! Well, obviously I changed a few things, since I'm not Tai or Matt, but still…yeah, I had a crazy morning. And no one knows about it, so I wanted someone to know. You all.**

_Ring! Ring!_

Matt groaned, trying to push his pillow farther onto his head. It was Fall Break, for goodness sake! Who would be calling so early in the morning?

_Ring! Ri—_

"Hello, you have reached the Ishida residence, who on Earth is calling so early in the morning?" Matt said without thinking. He winced, realizing that it might be bad if someone important, like his mom, had called…hard to explain why he was so cranky. It was all Gabumon's fault…

His thoughts were disrupted when a familiar voice spoke. "Matt? It's Tai. I need your help."

Matt groaned. "Tai, it's too early to be up! Go back to bed and call me in a few hours…"

"Matt, it's eleven in the morning. You've had plenty of time to get your beauty sleep. Now, come over. I need help breaking into the school."

This caught Matt's attention. "…okay, okay. Just because I want to see what mess you got into this time."

Ten minutes later, Matt knocked on the Kamiya's apartment. Izzy let him in.

"Izzy, what are you doing here?"

Izzy looked annoyed. "Tai called me up. On the first day of school break. It's too early in the morning for these sorts of things!"

"I agree with you on that."

Just then, Kari entered the room. "You guys sleep in way too much."

Tai was on the floor, studying a map of the school that all the destined (minus Joe, who's in the older school, and TK, who doesn't live in Odaiba) attended. He was poking it with a pen, and writing notes on the side of another piece of paper.

Matt frowned as he and Izzy took a seat on the couch, while Kari sat down on a plush chair next to them. "So, um, what's going on? Why do we need to break into the school?"

Kari was the first to speak. "Because Tai will be in big trouble if he doesn't bring it back!"

Tai momentarily glared at his sister before looking back at the paper and resuming taking notes. Izzy was the one to explain the situation. "Well, it appears that Tai left his sister's notebook in his desk, and she needs it for this evening for something or other…"

"Hey! I thought it was my notebook full of soccer scores!"

"Tai, it had flowers on it! It was pink!"

"Yeah, I wondered why it didn't look right…hey, I was excited for school to end!"

"Tai!"

"…okay, okay! We'll get it back. That's why I called you two over here," Tai said, gesturing at the two sitting boys. "I need a plan to infiltrate the school grounds, break through the door, preferably not the front, getting past any gates and or barriers, and retrieving the notepad from Matt's and my homeroom class. Got it?"

Matt looked at Izzy, to make sure that this was all serious. "Um, why do you need the notebook so bad, Kari?"

Kari crossed her arms. "It's got the story that a friend and I are writing in it, and we're supposed to work on it more later today! Tai's messing up our plans!"

"Yeah, as you've noticed, I accidentally made Kari even madder by insulting her story."

"It's a good story!"

"Yeah, right…"

"Tai, do I need to tell Mom?"

"Okay, enough already!" Izzy said. "We'll go and get the notebook. Really, since when did you two fight so much?"

"Hey, she'd just really cranky!"

"He locked Miko out of the house because he said that cat's weren't cool!"

"Hey, I want a dog! Mom and Dad won't let us get one because of the stupid cat…"

"Enough!" Matt shouted. "Let's just get going!"

Kari went to her room after glaring at Tai some more; once she was gone, Tai let out a sigh of relief.

"Really, it normally isn't like this. But I'm trying to make amends here…"

Izzy grinned. "Sure. So, what do you need us for?"

"Izzy, you're in charge of surveillance. And the actual plan. Matt, since you know the school pretty well, you are the field expert."

"Then what are you, Tai?"

"Oh? I'm Bond, James Bond…no? Okay, well, I'm the needy older brother. Got it?"

The other two boys nodded.

In half an hour, the three of them headed out, towards the school building. It was a semi-cloudy day, and the wind was strong, but that also meant that very few people were outside. The problem was, as Izzy pointed out multiple times on the walk, that three boys didn't just get together for any reason. They would be noticed.

Despite this, they made it to the school in a good amount of time.

"So, I hacked into the school database…there appears to be twelve doors that lead in and out of the school, but I would advise trying to get in the back way, through the loading den. Less likely to be locked…" Izzy said, reading from his computer.

"Um, hate to burst your bubble, Izzy, but the front door is open. Can't we just use that way?" Matt said from inside the school. Izzy blushed as he and Tai entered the building.

"Eerie. I never imagined the school so…empty. No shouting kids or yelling teachers…it's creepy," Tai said, looking around the dark hallways.

Matt led the way to the classroom, encountering no one in their path. Nothing strange happened. Besides Tai's bad attempt to roll across the floor between hallways (he said that it was for keeping under radar, but it didn't help that Matt burst out laughing at that) and falling on his face, they got to the classroom easily enough.

But the door was open. Someone was muttering inside.

Tai, Izzy, and Matt looked at each other grimly. "I knew we should have brought Agumon!"

Matt sighed. "Well, here it goes. If it's the teacher, we'll make up a lame excuse. If not…"

"On the count of three," Izzy said. "One…two…three!"

On three, the three of them burst into the classroom to find a small figure standing over Tai's assigned desk, holding the notebook.

"Gatomon? What are you doing here?"

Gatomon smirked. "Tai, Kari sent me to get her notebook."

Tai was at a loss for words. "But…why…did she want me to get it back for her?"

Gatomon smiled even more. "She just wanted to bug you, to see how much you would do for her. She didn't actually think that you'd get this far…I must say, Izzy, Matt, I'm impressed. You managed to get big-hair over there into the school without breaking anything." She turned around. "Well, I must be off. Other ways to make fun of Tai must be discovered. Bye!" She leapt out of an open window.

For once in their lives, Tai, Matt, and Izzy were all speechless. Tai only said one thing while they left the building.

"See, this is why I hate cats!"

**Okay, I'm being mean to Tai again, and making Kari evil, but I like it! Hey, it proves that they love each other a lot…yeah, my logic is messed up.**

**How is this a real life story? I accidentally left my retainers in my locker yesterday, and today was the start of fall break.**

**So I snuck into the school this morning, through the front door…got to my locker without a problem, grabbed my retainer case…and ran back outside. That's my morning in a nutshell. That through much pre-planning, my dad making me cook half of the time, and my brother having to accompany me to the library, which was supposed to be my excuse to head to the school. Needless to say, I found a way to ditch him…**

**I'm not sure how Japanese schools are. I'm thinking of elementary school here in the US where we left stuff in our desks…yeah, that was four years ago, so if my memory's off, don't be mad!**

**Oh, and I could use a review, since I'm afraid I'll get in trouble for sneaking into the school…**


	27. A Halloween Adventure

**I'm starting to think that boredom is a virtue. So is patience. You know, if I got more reviews, I would update more often…?**

**Happy Halloween! I'm not uploading anything tomorrow, so this is your holiday fic! Enjoy, and review!**

**Oh, and this has the same costumes/occurrences thereby mentioned in IDCT (chat room fic…)…so I'm keeping it all together, 'kay?**

_Need I say, this happens on Halloween?_

"Tai, wait up! Please?"

"Kari, come on! I've got candy to collect!"

Kari ran after her brother, herself dressed in an angel costume, a silver gown, beaded wings, and a silver halo. She carried a small bag, more like a purse that completed her outfit.

A few homes ahead of her **(AN: I don't know if Japan celebrates Halloween. I don't care. It's my favorite holiday, so I'll distort a few cultures to include it. Oh, and I know that cities don't have tons of homes, mainly apartments, but, just leave it be, 'kay? No flames!)**, Tai was wearing a pirate costume: striped shirt, torn up pants, a hook on his hand, and in place of his goggles lay an eye patch. He had a big sack hanging by the hook; it was already half full.

Behind the two of them came Gatomon and Agumon. Gatomon was walking like a normal kitty (not that she wouldn't complain when they finally went home for the night), and Kari had gotten her to wear a doll dress similar to the angel one she was wearing. Agumon was wearing a dino costume…yeah, Kari didn't get it either. It was made for a large dog, and Agumon had already destroyed the paw park with his claws, but he was able to collect candy with very few stares.

"Tai, my bag is getting heavy!"

"Oh, come on! I need this to last until Christmas! My bag is only half full!"

They both approached the next house, and Tai took the honor of ringing the doorbell. A few seconds later, a lady appeared in a witch costume, holding a big bowl of chocolate.

Tai, Kari, and Agumon recognized their cue. "Trick or treat!"

The lady smiled. "Well, if you do a trick, I'll give a treat."

First, Tai took his hook and began talking 'pirate.' "Arrgh, matey, I want that candy. Please." Yes, this was the best he could come up with.

Kari then did a small dance around, finishing up behind her brother blushing.

Next came Agumon.

"Hello," said the lady, smiling down at him kindly. "What are you going to do?"

Agumon looked around a few times. "Um…_Pepper breath!"_

A few moments later, the four of them were running madly in the opposite direction. Kari said, "Agumon, next time someone tells you to do a trick, pretend to roar. Don't put their house on fire."

"Well, at least you had the sense to gather the candy out of the bowl she had thrown to the ground. How about we try this again in the other direction, maybe across the town?" Gatomon said, looking back.

_Change of scenery. Since I can't use the line thingy on this program…_

"Sora, I'm getting tired of sitting on your shoulder. Can't I fly?"

"Biyomon, I think we both forgot your size when we planned this costume. But, no. Toy parrots don't just start flying on their own."

"We could say that I have a remote control thingy…"

"As tempting as that is, nope."

Sora was dressed, also, in a pirate costume, hers a little more complete looking. She had taken the liberty of using make-up to paint on a fake moustache, and her captain's hat was big and poofy **(which is a word in my dictionary…)**. Biyomon stood on her shoulder wearing a similar eye patch, every now and then saying 'Polly want a cracker' in the most monotone voice she could muster.

So, pirate and parrot head down the street, coming to the last house on the block. Waiting behind a small group of younger kids, Sora finally got her turn and said, "Trick or treat, please!"

A tall man smiled. "Ah, how cute! Love the parrot, by the way." He went to go and get a piece of candy.

Sora felt a tap on her shoulder, the one without Biyomon. "Excuse me, young lady, but where did you get that toy parrot? It looks almost lifelike," a man said, holding the hand of a small girl in a princess costume.

"Oh. Um…the mall?" In her mind, she was saying, 'Please don't be like last time! Please don't be like last time!'

"We looked at the mall for those kinds of toys. We couldn't find a good parrot anywhere."

"Um…sold out?"

"How much for that one? Name the price, within reason, and I'll pay."

A few blocks away… "Sora, stop running! You're making my claws hurt!"

"Why does everyone want you as a toy? Why!"

"Because I'm perfect!"

"How about we trick-or-treat a little bit away from here…"

"Good plan. Wait…you forgot to wait for that candy!"

"Oh, no. We are not going back there."

_Change of scenery._

"Matt, let's go to that house!"

"Why that house?"

"I dunno. Because that other one looks scary."

Matt, TK, Gabumon, and Patamon were strolling across the street, towards a white house with several lights on inside. Well, Matt, TK, and Gabumon were strolling. Patamon was lying on TK's head.

"Patamon, you're flattening my hat!"

"TK, your hat is poking me in the stomach!"

"Trick or treat!"

"Lets see here," said the person who opened the door. "Two astronauts and a…wizard? With a pig with wings on top of his head? Huh?"

TK grinned. "It's an owl, see? He's flattening my hat, though."

The man remained doubtful, but shrugged anyway. "Okay then. Here you go. Three pieces."

TK spoke up. "Can my owl have one?"

"Uh…sure." The man grabbed a piece of chocolate and placed it next to the "owl's" mouth. "Um, I don't think Polly wants it—Augh!"

Moments later…

"Patamon, biting someone's hand for a piece of candy isn't acceptable. You know that, right?" Matt said, leading the way in the running. **(Yes, they're all running. I know, predictable, but it'll lead somewhere good, I promise!)**

"Hey, he was going to take it away. And that's my favorite kind of candy!"

_Change of scenery._

"Trick or treat!"

"Izzy? Is that you?"

"Huh? How do you know my…Joe, are you under that sheet?"

"Yep-sir-y. So, how goes the candy collecting? Oh, and what are you supposed to be, a baboon in a suit or a clown?"

"Collecting is going great. I've estimated a .3 increase in the quality of goods since last year. Oh, and I'm Einstein. Can't you tell? You're the tenth person to ask what I was supposed to be!" Izzy was wearing a black suit and white tie **(sad thing when I started spelling 'tie' 'tai.') ** He had managed to get his hair spikier than normal, and it stuck farther up then Joe had ever seen it. In his hands, besides the candy bag loaded with treats, lay two heavy-looking books, one labeled physics, the other "The Biography of Einstein." Joe was wearing a white rag with two holes cut out for his eyes.

"So, can I have a piece of candy, then?"

"Oh. Uh, sure. Crunch or Reeses?"

"Reeses, please. Hey, Joe," said Izzy, putting the piece methodically into his bag, "want to head trick-or-treating with me for the rest of the night? I'm sure you could use some candy."

"Oh, well, um, my dad wants me to give away candy, not receive…one sec, let me ask him." A few seconds later, he appeared. "Actually, he says that since I'm about out of candy, I might as well have fun. Come on."

The two headed out.

_Change of scenery._

"Palmon, can't you get out here and push your own carriage?"

"No, Mimi, I'm a wittle baby! I can't talk and I can't walk, and besides, despite it being Halloween, I don't think a walking cactus is the best idea."

"Oh, all right. Here, then, hold my horse and candy."

Mimi was wearing her normal outfit, pink cowboy dress, hat, boots, and gloves. Palmon was dressed in her bonnet costume, inside a pink baby carriage, now holding a pink bag of candy, and a pink stick horse. Ingenious costume, huh?

"Trick or treat!"

"Hmmm…a cowgirl and a…green baby? Okay, then. Here you go."

"Ah, how adorable! Here you two are! Now play nicely!"

"I've got just the thing for you. Here, two big bars of chocolate, perfect for such a cute costume!"

So Halloween was going great for Mimi and Palmon. Until…

A tall man stepped out of the shadows, wearing a red mask and dark robe and fangs. As expected…

"Ah! Myotismon! Run!"

"Palmon, come back here! It isn't Myotismon, it's just a vampire costume! Get back in the carriage!"

Then out stepped a clown.

"Ah! Piedmon! Run!"

"Palmon, that's just a clown. Come back here before you get into trouble."

So they began running, Mimi chasing after Palmon while lugging a carriage, horse, and candy behind her.

_Docks. This is Japan. There is bound to be a bay somewhere in the city. 'Kay?_

"Tai, is this far enough away yet?"

"Keep on going a little more…once we can't here the sirens, then we'll start begging for candy again."

"Sora, calm down!"

"No! You are not a toy that I can sell!"

"Sora, you're going crazy."

"Matt, can we stop yet?"

"Um, how about here? Patamon can't bite anyone here…"

"This was fun. Look, my bag is pretty full for not being out here that long."

"That's the spirit, Joe. Just don't trip."

"Palmon, stop running!"

"Myotismon! Piedmon! Digimon!"

So thus they all arrived by the bay. Running, walking, screaming, scared…normal for the Destined, don't you think?

"Hey, is that Tai and Kari?"

"Sora? Matt? TK?"

"Joe? Izzy?

"Mimi? Why is Palmon screaming bloody murder?"

"AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!" A big white mass jumped out of the water in front of where they had all gathered.

"Ikkakumon…what are you doing?"

"Scaring passersby…wait…that didn't scare you? Come on!"

"Sorry, buddy. No luck."

"So, shall we all go and do something besides trick-or-treating?" Tai asked.

Sora smiled. "Yeah. I think that Digimon asking for candy is a bad idea. Proven by us."

_The Koushiro apartment, a few hours later._

"Izzy, how did trick-or-treating go?"

"…interesting."

**I know, not that good, but that was fun. Kay? Good.**

**I just realized, I haven't made Izzy say "Prodigious" yet. So sad.**

**Anywho, give me a Halloween treat…review! Please?**

**Have a happy and safe Halloween! Yes, I'm trick-or-treating. I'm being a cat. Why? Because, despite Halloween being my favorite holiday, I lack the motive to actively dress up and try to look cool. So my costume stinks. Don't care. I'm getting candy. That's good enough.**

**Remember, reviewing isn't illegal! =)**

**Wow. Long chapter. Okay, I'm done now. Review! Tell me how your Halloween was!**


	28. Swapping Places part 1

**So, this was from **_**Dreams on Wings **_**from a long long time ago, and, yes, it is pure randomness…not sure if this was what you had wanted, but it was what came to me, so…yeah. Be afraid. Be very afraid. Oh, and this is long, and there is another chapter to finish it off coming up, so…enjoy!**

_Sora's POV_

"Come on, Sora, it'll be fun!"

"I don't want to do shopping for a day! I want to do soccer practice!"

"Please?"

"…do you have to look so sad?"

"Yep!"

"That just ruined the effect…"

"Please?"

"Okay, okay…but I better not have to put on make-up."

"Yay! Just type up a schedule for me, and I'll make one for you, and we'll switch places for a day!"

"…what have I gotten myself into?"

That was yesterday, when Mimi had come up to me with a random proposal: we switch places for a day. Yeah, I didn't get it. Apparently, though, Joe had been telling her of a psychiatrist class where people saw what others did for a day to fully evaluate them…and she thought that since we were such good friends we should see how we did in each other's shoes.

Wonderful, I thought, as I put on my gym shoes, lacing them up as tight as I could. Mimi had handed me a schedule written in frilly cursive that I could barely read, and the first thing on the agenda was shopping with friends at the local mall. Great. Because I absolutely adored shopping…

* * *

_Mimi's POV_

Yay! I was so excited! I couldn't believe that Sora actually agreed with me…Palmon had made a bet that she wouldn't. So now Pal owed me making my room for the next few days…anyway, this was going to be great! We would become even better friends!

The first thing on Sora's list was _Make breakfast with Mom and clean up the shop._ That should be fun.

* * *

_Sora's POV_

**(PS, these are random kids. I don't know who Mimi's real friends are. I just named people randomly. 'Kay?)**

"So, I think I'm going to order a…chocolate chip bagel and a mocha, extra chocolate **(I don't eat breakfast either, so don't get mad if I don't say something right!)**," said Laia, one of Mimi's numerous friends. Her, a girl named Marta, and I were sitting in a little café in the mall, ordering breakfast. Ordering breakfast! This had to be the first time for me!

Marta laughed and looked at her menu. "Hmmm. I'll take the eggs Benedict with bacon on the side and orange juice, freshly squeezed," she said to the waitress. "Sora, what are you going to get?"

I gulped and looked down at the menu. Who knew that breakfast could be so complicated? "Um…I'll have the…mushroom omelet and apple juice? Please?" It came out as more of a question than I'd intended it to. The waitress nodded and went toward the kitchen to collect our meals.

In the meanwhile, until the food came out, I was stuck with two giggling girls sharing a booth with me.

"Sora, I still can't believe that you and Mimi are doing this!" said Laia. She was the calmer of the two of them, but it still looked as if she was about to burst into giggles. At ten in the morning. I also couldn't believe that I had to sleep in that late. While I loved sleeping in, I was used to an early morning. "I mean, I think it's so cool! You two'll be able to know each other so much better now!"

I nodded, remembering that I should at least put an effort into this. "Yeah. This is going to be an interesting day."

"I'll say," said Marta, messing with a napkin. "So, where did you and Mimi meet?"

"Um…summer camp?" Again, it came out as a question.

"Well, yeah, but what activity were you doing? Mimi is pretty open, but she rarely makes friends unless she absolutely has to."

"Um…" I was spared answering and lying when the waitress came out with our dishes. She set in front of me a plump omelet and a tall glass of juice. I gulped. That was a lot of food. Probably very unhealthy. I shrugged, and took a bite. Not as bad as I would have thought.

Of course, I felt like throwing up when I saw the bill. And to think, shopping for the day hadn't even begun!

* * *

_Mimi's POV_

How did Sora get up so early?

I had stayed the night at Sora's, and she had stayed at my house. Both of our parents were willing to try out our idea, so it worked out like that. But I had to get up at seven, and it's a weekend!, and I was supposed to make breakfast.

Luckily, Mrs. Takenouchi is very considerate. She helped me make miso soup with steamed rice, though I had dropped the rice several times. The food was different than I was used to, but it tasted good, and all was well.

Then Mrs. Takenouchi led me to the shop; she and Sora lived on the floor above it. It was neat and orderly, but apparently one of Sora's chores every morning was to restock and water the plants, to organize the small supply of cards lying next to the counter, and to clean the windows and counter.

This all took me an hour. I wasn't placed on this earth to be a maid! I was supposed to be a princess! I drowned a few plants, skipped some others, spilled the watering can and had to mop it all up; I tore a card that I was supposed to be placing down (I hope I didn't have to pay for that!), and my hands got blistered from cleaning the window. A window! Well, actually, it was those shop windows, you know, those tall glass ones, but still!

For the first time that day, I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into.

The next thing on the list was to wash Biyomon. Okay. I could handle that. Sora was one of the few of us Destined that actually told their parent about what had happened, so she helped me fill a tub with warm water. She then left to open up shop.

Sora never said that Biyo didn't like water. I guess it makes sense, since most of her Digivolutions were for fire birds, but still…I had to practically tackle her! And I broke a nail! After a little bit of scrubbing that she said wasn't hard enough, and a little more scrubbing that she said was too hard, I had her all clean. I think. Hard to tell when she is feathered. Still, both of us were more than willing to stop with the bath…yeah. I took a quick rest before going to Sora's next activity, _soccer practice.

* * *

_

_Sora's POV_

"Can we stop, please? My feet hurt!"

"Oh, Sora, they can't hurt! You do soccer, for goodness sake!"

"But I don't have to try on a million outfits and run around a mall during soccer!"

A few hours after breakfast and I was going crazy from being forced to try on a million different outfits. When I asked why they didn't buy anything, they said that they never bought; they took inventory of what they wanted and then begged their parents to let them get it. While that tactic seemed to work for them, it seemed pretty low to me.

Suddenly I saw it. Red, a cute heart design, something different than I've ever had. I had to get it. Without them knowing.

"Um…guys? Girls? Um, I need to head over to the bathroom…be with you in a sec…?" I started walking away to their giggles.

When they were out of earshot and sight, I went to the register, tried on the shirt, and, since it fit right, I bought it. I stuffed it in this overgrown bag that Mimi had lent to me, and ran to catch up with the girls, who had only managed to get a bit ahead. When I reached them, panting, they were giggling even harder.

"Hi! Back now…what's up?" I said, hoping they hadn't seen me buy that outfit.

Marta smirked. "Long time no see. You know, you could have spent more time…over there…" Huh? What was she talking about? I wanted to get out of this mall!

They must have seen the confusion on my face, because they both started giggling even harder. "Well, what she means is, if you want to go and see him, we won't keep you!" Laia said, her hand over her mouth.

What? "What do you mean?" I asked, my face going red.

"Well," said Marta, "I mean, obviously you went to see a boy. Like, there isn't a restroom on this floor…did he buy you anything?"

My cheeks burned red. And to think, these girls were younger than me! "Um…no, I didn't see a boy. Um, I've got…cheer leading practice in a bit, so I'm going to go and get changed and head over…" With that, I high tailed it out of the mall, sprinting faster than I do on a normal soccer match.

**Okay, I'm stopping there for now. I'll finish this fic idea up next chapter, 'kay? Mimi and Sora will do soccer and cheer leading, respectively…among other things…this should get interesting…**

**Review!**


	29. Swapping Places part 2

**Hi. Sorry for the uber-long wait. Been busy, you know…school, I've got an honors band concert this weekend, stuff like that. But here you are. The long awaited chapter directly following the last one.**

**Note: If you haven't read the last chapter, please do not attempt this one. I will offer very little explanation of what is happening; just read the last chapter and it will make a little more sense that normal. Maybe. Enjoy to all who are getting ready to read this. On your mark…get set…go ahead! The story awaits!**

It was the end of the day. A long day. The longest that either girl had had in a long while. Both were sore and tired when they met up in the fast food joint to talk about it.

Neither talked for a while, instead deciding to slowly much her own food. Of course, silence doesn't last as long as it should.

"Sora…"

"Mimi…"

Both girls began talking at the same time, and a hint of a smile lit up their faces. Sora gestured for Mimi to begin, which she did promptly after taking a large bite of her burger. "Okay, first of all, sorry for suggesting doing this today. Sorry, but it wasn't the best idea."

"You can say that again. How do you get by spending all of that money?"

"…well, I was going to ask you when you have time for fun? I mean, all you had me do was chores and soccer practice…"

"Fun? Soccer is tons of fun! Unlike cheerleading. That was horrible!"

"Excuse me? Cheerleading is great! We uphold morale! All soccer does is kick a ball around."

"If it's so easy, why do you hate it?"

"…I don't hate it. I just wish that it didn't move so fast."

"Oh, so it moves too fast? Shopping takes forever!"

"I know."

Both girls stared at each other before laughing quickly. Sora looked out the window, at the traffic going down the street. Mimi looked towards the door, at the people coming and going. Neither spoke for a few minutes.

Sora was the first to break the silence this time. "Sorry I said that stuff about cheerleading. It isn't really that bad. I mean, I learned a flip…that was sort of fun…"

"Yeah, soccer is okay. I scored a goal…I guess it wasn't too bad…"

"Okay, I know we don't have to be exactly alike to be best friends…but still…how do you spend all that money?"

Mimi laughed. "Well, it makes for a lot of fun. How did you like my other friends?"

"Okay, I guess. I don't think they'll be mine anytime soon."

"That's okay. Hey, now you've seen a part of me that isn't normally there with you."

"Yeah. I found a cute top at the mall, too…"

"I cleaned Biyomon, but I don't think she liked it that much…"

"She doesn't like it at all, ever. Don't mind her."

"So, we're still friends, right?"

"Yep. Though we are so not doing this anytime soon. Okay?"

"Deal. If I suggest it, please hit me."

"Deal."

With that, the two girls walked out of the restaurant, hand in hand.

**Why so short? Well, I realized I have absolutely no clue as to what actually happens inside a soccer practice or cheerleading practice. So I had to cut that out…this isn't too funny, but it finishes the other one nicely, and now I can write other random one shots…**

**Enjoy. Don't flame. Give constructive criticism. Tell me what really does happen in soccer and cheerleading practice…!**


	30. The PreTest

**I think I mentioned this in a Type chapter…oh, and Type is my new abbreviated name for If Digimon Could Type...this is pretty light, so don't take it seriously! Sorry I haven't uploaded a lot for Type, too, but I've been busy, and that takes a lot of time to write out. So I hope you enjoy this instead…

* * *

**

_(Digi.5, second week of school when the teachers quiz you on how much you already know…)_

Okay. It was test day. Well, pre-test day. But still. I knew a lot for my age. That's what Matt always said…

The teacher stood up in front of the chalkboard. "Okay, class," she said, holding a pile of papers that was really big. "I'm going to hand out your tests. Remember, this is a hodge podge of questions that you should be able to answer. If you can't, no worries. We'll be going over the material mentioned here for the next few weeks, so if you know it, then you're ahead of the game. No talking once the test starts. If you need anything, raise your hand. You may begin as soon as you are handed a test."

The tests went out. I was in the last row, the problem with having the letter 'T' as the first letter in my last name, Takaishi. Since we were seated alphabetically. Once I got my test, and handed a few more back to the two students behind me, I started on it.

* * *

This was easy.

_1. Name the continents and describe their biome._

Okay. I wrote, "North America is moderate forest. South America is moderate forest and rainforest. Europe is moderate forest. Africa is desert. Asia, where we live, is moderate forest. Antarctica is tundra. Server is a mix of all of them…" See? I'm not sure if Antarctica was right, but I think I did okay. Though it felt like I was missing something…

_2. Name the main animal kingdoms._

This was too easy. "Animal, Plant, Fungi, Bacteria, and Digimon." I think there was another kind of thing like Bacteria, but I couldn't remember the name.

_3. Complete the following math problems._

_4. Name the first president._

_5. What should you do if there were a fire?_

Roll on the ground. Or jump into a lake. Whichever is available at the time.

_6. In the word 'prodigious,' how many syllables are present?_

Cool. I'd have to tell Izzy that his word was part of a test.

_7. Name the three states of matter._

Liquid, solid, and gas. Though Izzy mentioned something about plasma being another. And I personally think that data should also. I mean, if it could create its own world, I think it should have its own classification too, shouldn't it?

_8. Name an animal related to a pig. Name another animal related to a dog._

Hmmm. A hog. Or Patamon. And for the other…a wolf. Or Garurumon.

_9. Read the below clock and record the time given._

_10. Describe in a paragraph what you did over the summer._

"Well, first Matt and me, Matt's my brother, went to camp. But we got into the Digiworld instead. Patamon and I cried a lot, but we fought tons of bad guys and kept the Digiworld safe. So it was all okay. Though I had to say good-bye. I don't like saying that."

* * *

Later that day, when the bell rang, the teacher asked me to stay after for a few minutes. She took out my test from a drawer and smiled at me. "TK, you have an avid imagination. I'm glad to see that Matt played adventure games with you over the summer. But if you could, it'd be better to keep your stories out of the real world. Okay?"

"Okay. But they aren't in the real world. Their in the Digiworld. They can't come here."

She just stared at me for a few seconds before smiling again and sending me home.

I don't know if I got an A for that or not, but I think I did.

* * *

**Boredom. I hate it. Oh, and I read a really stupid book for English, so I'm in a bad mood. Since my sister is annoying me to death. Okay. Done screaming at the world. Enjoy! Review! Be nice little readers, or the Bakemon will get you…!**


	31. The Practicality of Digimon

**I think I owe another one of these since I'm not uploading at all over the weekend. So consider this your lucky day.

* * *

**

"Okay, Agumon, a little more…that's it, that's it…a little more…"

"Tai, can I stop yet?"

"Keep it up! It isn't at temperature yet."

"Tai, what are you doing?"

"…um…nothing. Go away, Kari."

"Why are you spit-roasting a chicken over Agumon's Pepper Breath?"

"None of your business."

"Yes it is. Tell me or I'll tell Mom and Dad."

"I hate it when you say that!"

"Are you gonna tell me?"

"…well, I sort of broke the oven…"

"How'd you do that?"

"…I don't know. It just sort of exploded on me."

"Tai, I think it was because of you playing soccer next to it. Kicking a ball at the circuits can't have been a good thing."

"Gatomon, you leave soccer out of this! Anyway, Kari, Mom was preparing this in the oven, and she wanted me to make sure it got cooked thoroughly. So, um, yeah, Agumon's a good stove for the moment."

"…I'm sorry I asked. I'll leave now."

"Yeah, plus I think this will take another twenty minutes or so…"

* * *

"Gabumon, can you come over here?"

"What is it, Matt?"

"I need your help with something."

"…can I use my attack?"

"…um, something like that…"

"Cool. Coming!"

"Okay. So, I need you to light this string for me."

"…is that a rocket?"

"…yeah…"

"…you have a toy rocket and all you want me to do is light a string for you?"

"…well, the matches are all spent, and I don't want to burn my fingers. I need those fingers to play the guitar and harmonica."

"…_Blue Blaster!"_

"Ouch! Gabumon, you didn't need to fry my up as well!"

"Matt, might want to back up…"

"Wha—ouch. Who knew a rocket going off in a park could hurt so much?"

"You didn't, obviously."

* * *

"Biyomon, keep it going."

"Sora, not that I mind flying or anything, but this is a little tiring."

"I don't care. I need you to keep it up."

"Mimi, can I stop, please? This feels worse than a hang nail!"

"You don't get hangnails, silly! Come on! We're trying to see how high it goes!"

"…Sora, Mimi, we are not supposed to do this kind of thing!"

"I don't care! Now, Biyo, remember, you are the wind. Just keep on blowing it up!"

"Yeah. And, Palmon, you are the, erm, string! Stay loose and long!"

"…Sora, Mimi, we weren't meant to be acting as a kite!"

"But the kite is so far up…"

* * *

"Tentomon, just a little more. There, that's it."

"Izzy, why don't you just get new batteries already?"

"I'm saving up for a new hard drive. I can't afford new batteries. Now, a little more power, it's losing focus again."

"Izzy, when you asked me to do this, I thought it was for an experiment of yours. I am not your automatic charger!"

"But you're doing fine at it! Come on, this has lasted, by using you, for twenty more hours than normal! Let's make that forty, okay?"

"Not okay. Understood?"

"Tento, a little more juice. If it shuts down, I don't think your charges will revive it…we're losing it! Tentomon!"

"Okay, okay. Happy now?"

"…yes, quite better. Let's see, twenty hours, thirty-two minutes, and counting…"

* * *

"Okay, for the final time, Joe, I don't want to eat that store bought fish!"

"Why not? It tastes fine…"

"Not to a seal, it doesn't. It's all nasty. Can I please take some Marching Fishes home with us today?"

"Gomamon, number one, you are supposed to be acting like a hideous dog right now. One that doesn't make fish appear out of no where. Number two, I don't want Marching Fishes!"

"But, Joe!"

"No."

"Joe?"

"Remember what happened last time?"

"Yes, unfortunately, I do. You brought the food home, the news was on that a bunch of fish were seen by the docks, one fell into my bag and stayed in my bag until halfway through school the next day, when a teacher asked me what that horrible smell was."

"But we had a wonderful dinner!"

"…one little fish, okay? Just one."

"Yes! Marching fishes, here I come!"

* * *

"Patamon, a little more."

"TK, you aren't the only one overheating, you know that, right?"

"But I'm too hot! Please, just once more?"

"…_boom bubble…"_

"Thanks! Here, I'll go and get us some drinks."

"Really, it is way too hot for me to be acting as a fan…"

* * *

"Gatomon, I wonder what the rest of the Digidestined and Digimon do."

"I dunno. But I am liking that scratch behind the ears, Kari. A little more…?"

"…sure. You should do something for me…?"

"Kari, remember last time? You wanted me to help move the furniture around, and I accidentally scratched the room up."

"Good point. Let's just leave everything how it is. No special Digimonness, okay?"

"Okay!"

* * *

**Thank goodness it's Friday! So, what do you think? Good? Not so good? Funny? A bit? Maybe? Not so much?**

**Oh, and thanks to the hundred reviews I've gotten for this story so far! I'd like more, if you don't mind…I'm not being greedy, am I? Thank you! Hope you enjoyed it!**


	32. The Practicality of Enemies

**Okay, I guess my last chapter was good, since I got a lot of reviews for it. I feel very happy now. And, after eight hours of nonstop (well, almost nonstop) clarinet playing, my arm is sore, and I wanted to post something.**

**Thank animelover inf for another great idea. Oh, and I will start to post the other suggestions I've gotten, I just need to think them through a little more. I know, I said no chapters this weekend, but I lie a lot, don't I?**

**Enjoy. Sort of similar to the last chapter…in most ways…hint hint…

* * *

**

I was tired. So tired. After all, destroying the Digital World and making it unrecognizable was no easy task. So much work, plotting with my three other companions, and nobody really appreciated it. I mean, it's not like we were destroying things or anything! Okay, so we were, but that's not the point…

I returned to my observatory late in the day, on the top of Spiral Mountain, or what was left of it. The Digibrats were still in the real world fighting Myotismon like they had been for the last year, and they had no idea what was going on, so nothing to worry about there. We had just imprisoned a group of Numemon, and commissioned a WereMonzaemon to be in charge of Machinedramon's city. I had to help with that, since Machinedramon was sort of too big to grab something effectively without immediately destroying it…It had been a long day.

Of course, my job wasn't done yet.

Sometimes I hated being an evil villain. All over my room were stacks of papers, plans for the future, that I had lain out in the morning and had forgotten to put away. What a hassle!

I waved my hand irritably, throwing a white sheet out of my sleeve. In a few seconds, the plans had been, well, turned miniscule. I grabbed them, complete with key chain, to the bottom of my desk, and left them be.

Sometimes, it was okay to be evil. Cleaning up was so much easier…

* * *

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, lord Puppetmon, sir. Not kidding at all."

"So it's not a joke, then?"

"No, sir. Not a joke."

"Ah, but I wanted a good joke! Plus, this is stupid…"

"Sir, if you'd please…maybe you could pretend it is some sort of game…?"

"Okay, okay. If you insist. But you owe me a game of Hide and Seek!"

"…sure. Thanks."

"Sometimes I don't know what you'd do without a smart guy like me…that all?"

"One more nail, please…right there…"

"Happy now?"

"Thank you, lord Puppetmon, for your help hammering the nails into the new bridge. I'll play with you now."

"Okay, as long as word of this doesn't spread…"

* * *

This was so demeaning.

I was a tall vampire, I shouldn't have to stoop this low.

But if you wanted a job done right, you had to do it yourself.

"Er, boss, can you please get going on that? I need that to make the soup…"

I leaned forward, clenching my jaw. I was not made for such a pathetic use! However, I did what must be done.

I took the can from Demidevimon, bit into it quickly, and slid the can around in a circle. It opened with a small hiss, and I half threw it back into him, managing not to spill any of its contents.

"Next time," I said, angry and irate, "don't break the can opener!"

"Yes, sir, boss, I'll remember!"

I just hoped nobody would here of this.

* * *

**Random thingy I just thought of…Myotismon could so be the Wicked Witch of the West, from Wizard of Oz…okay, I for some unknown reason, I just imagined him letting loose his bats and saying, "Fly, my precious, fly!" I need help…I think I'm on a sugar high, which I've never had. I've also never had a brain freeze.**

**Animelover inf, you like coming up with ideas for Myo, don't you? Maybe you should start your own story set with him…**

**Last thing, before I beg for reviews. Why only three enemies as the practical uses? Because, in case you haven't realized it, most of their attacks deal with death and destruction, not simple tasks like I wanted them to do. I could have used Etemon as an alarm clock, but I don't like him, personally, so I decided to only do three.**

**Now review! Comment! I'm on my knees, begging! At least wish me luck for an honors concert I have tomorrow…! Gotta love Class A music…!**


	33. Life Isn't Fair

**So. Um. Yeah. I'm supposed to say something random and funny up here, but I don't want to think of anything. So on with the story…

* * *

**

Sometimes life wasn't fair. Sometimes other parts of life weren't fair, either…

"TK, that wasn't fair!"

"I don't care! I won and that's that!"

"…wah!"

"Oh, Patamon, don't cry! Here, we'll try again…"

* * *

And sometimes life doesn't correct itself.

"Yeah! I won again!"

"But…"

"No ifs, ands, or ors…"

"Or buts?"

"Or buts. Sorry, Patamon."

* * *

And sometimes life was really messed up.

"Once again?"

"Sure…"

…

"I'll never win this game!"

"Oh, don't be like that, Patamon. Sure, think about it like a bad guy. Just, um, ask for the right things, and it'll all work out."

"But this game doesn't have a bad guy, TK."

"I don't want to play again. Let's get a snack, okay?"

…

* * *

And sometimes life was impossible.

"TK! I can't get this open!"

"It isn't my fault."

"Yes it is! You should be helping me!"

"Hold your guinea pigs, I'm coming. There. You could have done that if you wanted to."

"No, I couldn't have!"

"Oh, don't cry again!"

"See, this is why I wish I could be Angemon all the time."

"Because you look super cool and could fly me around?"

"No, because then I could have actual hands."

* * *

See, it can be difficult to play a game of Go Fish, or even open a bag of chips, without such useful things as hands.

"Eew. Why is this part of the blanket wet?"

"I had to use my mouth to move it…"

"Oh."

* * *

Sometimes you need hands for the most basic things.

"TK, I'm bored."

"So am I."

"Let's play a hand game."

"TK…"

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself."

* * *

Or, in other such cases…

"Patamon, could you open the door, please? I need to get these boxes in."

"…ugh. It won't open!"

"Why not?"

"I think it's locked!"

"…silly. You just didn't turn the handle."

"…not my fault. That's a very complex system, that door."

* * *

But, no matter how you looked at it, Patamon wanted something.

Actual hands might be nice.

Unfortunately for him, life isn't fair.

* * *

**Okay, that was random, even for me. So…um…where did that come from? I honestly don't know…**

**So, just, um, remember, hands are great. For Thanksgiving, say you're thankful for hands, and, um…yeah. I would love to see those looks you got…**

**I'm done for now. Review. Just comment on how random this fic was. Then tell your friends, and your relatives, and your toys…hey, we know from Toy Story that they could go on the Internet and review for you…**

**Okay, done for real this time!**


	34. Drawing

**That last chapter got quite a few reviews. So I felt I owed you all…*hugs are being offered***

I ran down the halls, looking every direction for him. Once I saw him, I ran up and stopped, taking deep breaths. He just stared at me like I was crazy.

"Uh, Tai…what's up? Why were you running so fast?"

I held up a hand, motioning to my heavy breathing. He just leaned back against the hallway wall, his arms crossed, watching me with an irritated expression.

Finally I gained enough breath to speak. "I wanted to show you something I made!"

His eyebrows went up. "…okay, that's not weird at all. So what is this mystical thing that you want to show me so much?"

I swung my backpack off and pulled out a long thick piece of paper. "This!" I said, my voice filled with pride.

"…what is it?"

My jaw dropped. "What do you mean, what is it? Isn't it super obvious?"

"…dude, I'm not seeing it," Matt said, squinting and leaning forward.

What! It was super obvious among the oranges and greens. And blacks. And purples, and yellows, and whites…okay, so it was colorful. But it looked awesome, even for me!

"…Tai, all I see is a big blur of color. Sorry."

Imbecile. He just didn't have any artistic talent. He wouldn't have been able to recognize the Moan Lisa, or whatever it was called, even if it was right under his nose!

I sighed and whispered to him what it was. He just stared at me like I was crazy. "Really, Tai, I'm not seeing it."

"Look, there's the beak, see?" I said, pointing to a yellow part of the picture.

"…Tai, that's a rectangle. I'm sure that even the most artistically impaired could tell you that beaks are triangular. Just ask Sora if you could study Biyomon a little."

Speaking of which, at that moment an auburn haired girl ran up to us. "Tai, Matt, did one of you say my name?"

Matt nodded, grimacing at my fantastic drawing. "Yeah, Tai was showing me his picture."

"…very, uh, conventional, Tai. Um, what is this supposed to mean?"

I grew mad. Really? I could understand Matt, but Sora? Come on! "Isn't it obvious?"

"…sorry, but I don't see anything."

I mean, I wasn't the best at art, but this was pretty good. I got the lighting right, the expressions, everything was perfect! They just didn't see it. I looked at the picture too, and I saw it just fine.

"Sora, Matt, Tai, how are you all? What are you guys looking at?"

Izzy was coming down the hallway, but I wasn't in the mood to say 'hi,' when Matt and Sora did. Matt saw my expression and said, "Well, Tai was showing us his newest painting, and, well, I don't see how it is what Tai says it is."

Pouting, I turned my picture over, away from me, and showed it to Izzy. He just nodded.

"Hmm. I'm going to have to say that it's a portrait of the fight between the Greymon and the Parrotmon from about four years ago?"

I looked up from my pouting. "You can see it?"

Matt also said, "What, are you crazy? How is that even there?" Sora just gasped, stared at the picture some more, and shook her head. "I still don't see anything…"

"Yes, Tai, I can see it," Izzy said. "though you got the proportions off. For example, Greymon's foot was not the same size as his head, and his neck isn't supposed to be a giraffe's…"

Oh, I knew that I had messed up a few things…

Matt again said, "How does that look like those two Digimon?"

Izzy shrugged. "Well, besides the…ahem, rectangular beak, the green fuzzy shape appears to have wings, at least I assume those are wings, and the orange blob has a horn, and the only thing I could think of that relates to Tai's drawing prompt 'Something real and exotic' would have to be those two."

I laughed, and so did Matt and Sora. "Tai," Sora said, still chuckling at Izzy's explanation, "if I ever need a piece of artwork that makes no sense while making perfect sense, I'll come to you, okay?"

I just smiled. See, my artwork isn't that bad after all!

…**huggles you all. Reviews are lovely!**

**So, yeah, I'm not just assuming that Tai is a bad artist. One of the first thirteen episodes of Adventure, Tai is trying to make a map of File Island…um, it looks like a bunch of squiggles. So he really could use some lessons…Tai, we still love you. You just won't be an artist…**

**Okay, done. Have a good day! School's almost out for the week, always a good sign…now review, or I'll have to send you a horrible copy of Tai's artwork to your art teacher…you don't want that to happen. Do you?**


	35. Computer Club

**So, Dreams on Wings suggested this. And another suggestion is coming up in a week or so. I thought this would be fun…I know I elaborated a lot on it in Type, so you can read that for more details. Though, by far, that story is more popular.**

**Oh, and something that's really annoying me…on the 'Traffic Page' of my account, it lists 'Hits' and 'Visitors.' Anyone care to explain what the difference of those is?**

This was a bad idea. Why didn't he see this coming?

He knew that Tai was computer-skills lacking. It appeared in the Digiworld that Tai and electronics would never mix. However, he had thought he would be able to teach Tai.

How wrong he was.

It was the second meeting of Computer Club, and Izzy was the Vice-President. He had invited Tai Kamiya to join. First of all, because the club had only six members, four of which had positions as President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Not a big club by anyone's standards. Second of all, he was sick and tired of Tai begging for a new club to join since soccer was over with until next season.

Tai had absolutely refused to join basketball, saying one sport was enough. And he didn't want to join the tutoring group. So Izzy managed to convince him to join the Computer Club.

_Bright idea, Izzy, _he thought, mentally cursing himself. This had been a complete disaster.

On Tai's first day in the club, when Izzy was trying to explain to the group in the computer lab, along with Mr. Fujiyama, who was listening intently, how to insert and exert thumb drives, Tai managed to break the computer. Not break, the lock key was still on, break, but break as in sparks started flying from the flash drive. Izzy was still trying to figure out that one, especially since the computer showed no signs of default or even harm.

On the second meeting, when they were searching the Internet…let's just say Tai found a very inappropriate site. The pictures…Izzy was scarred for life! Another time, random rock music with tons of bad words started spewing from his computer, and Izzy couldn't even find where it was coming from or how to stop it.

Yeah, for the two weeks Tai was in Computer Club, a lot of things had gone wrong. And not just wrong as in brief computer problems. They had almost lost a keyboard when Tai tried to surf down the stairs with it. Somehow, the school had a blackout for two hours after Tai hit the delete key. Another time, the keys had started moving of their own accord, typing out gibberish. And, once again, the copy machine printed out twenty copies of strange symbols.

Only one piece of the story remained the same. Tai.

Izzy hated telling Tai to leave, but it was just too hard to keep the club running and deal with a computer-messed-up kid.

Of course, Izzy felt bad until he got the letter and headphones.

It had arrived on his doorstep that morning, the day after he had to tell Tai that the Computer Club was just not right for him. A manila envelop sitting by his mail box, addressed to Izzy Izumi. He had taken it into his room and opened it cautiously.

Inside were a pair of headphones in their plastic wrapping, the expensive kind that sound amazing. Izzy had been wanting a pair since Tai, a week ago, spilled orange juice in his old ones.

There was also a letter, which Izzy opened and read.

_Dear Izzy,_

_Sorry about all that with the Computer Club. Don't be sad you had to let me go. Seriously. I mean, really, I sort of hoodwinked you into it._

_I was just mad that you kept on pestering me to join, so I did. And then I had to find a way out. Making a ruckus was the easiest way._

_Don't worry. I know how to work computers. While I still think the best way to fix one is with a good whacking, I'm not going to cause a sudden burst of flames or anything. Most of the sparks and bad internet sites came from Matt, so ask him how he did it._

_Anyway, now I'm out of the club, like I wanted, and I still tried it, like you wanted. Happy, now? Oh, and you better do soccer again next year._

_From your friend and teammate, Tai Kamiya._

_P.S. Hope you like the headphones. I figured I owed you a pair. Oh, and Kari and Matt were in on all of this._

For a while all Izzy could do was stare at the wall. Tai wasn't capable of such plots…was he?

Then a thought crossed Izzy's mind.

Where did Matt learn to do that kind of stuff to a computer? And, worse yet, how did Matt know that horrible Internet site?

**Okay, I know this chapter wasn't needed, since my last Type chapter detailed it out a lot, but somebody was asking for the letter, and I thought it might be nice to see this in more detail. So, if you didn't enjoy it, well, I did, and that's all that matters!**

**Oh, and I have no clue where Matt found that site. Don't ask me!**

**Thank Dreams On Wings for this! Hope you enjoyed this especially…!**

**Review! A Thanksgiving chapter is coming out tomorrow…for once, I wrote it in advance…guess who the family is I'm doing in it. Just think about Digimon families and cooking…any ideas? You know it…**


	36. A Thanksgiving Feast

**Before I get any flames, let me state this: I know that Thanksgiving is basically a completely American holiday. I know that Japan doesn't celebrate it. I don't care. In this fic, they do. That's why it's called fiction. Okay?**

…sometimes it was best not to ask. Then again, sometimes people didn't listen.

"…what is this supposed to be?"

"Isn't it obvious? Stuffing!"

"…oh. I think I see it….no, not happening. Where did this recipe come from again?"

"My head! Why haven't any of you tried it yet?"

As Mrs. Kamiya returned to the kitchen to bring out the next dish, Mr. Kamiya, Tai, and Kari looked at each other with long faces. Mr. Kamiya spoke first.

"Okay, it's your turn, Tai. I've been doing this for years now. You're turn to step up and be a man."

Tai groaned. "I was wondering when you were going to say that. No! I'm just a kid! I want to live a long life without any disabilities induced from strange alien food."

"…Tai, don't make Kari do this."

"That's not fair! She barely eats anyway; she might as well get it over with…"

"Tai. Stop. I am not eating anything. I'm suddenly not hungry," said Kari, looking at her plate with obvious disgust.

They all jumped when Mrs. Kamiya entered the room again, this time with an orange looking turkey in her arms. "So," she said, smiling and putting the plate with the turkey down next to Tai, "what do you think?" Seeing the plate and clean spoon each still held, she frowned. "Come on, it's not going to bite you…"

"You think? I'm not so sure," said Tai. With Mrs. Kamiya fussing over the tablecloth by Kari, a motioning contest came from Mr. Kamiya and Tai. Mr. Kamiya glared at Tai, pointed at the food, and pointed at Tai. Tai pointed at the food and made a cutting motion over his neck. Mr. Kamiya then put his hands together and made a begging motion. Tai just shook his head, and pointed at Kari, who was giggling throughout all of this. Along with Mrs. Kamiya.

"Really, it's not that bad. Just try it," she smiled, her arms crossed.

Tai couldn't see a way out of this. Making a mental note to be mad at Kari if this killed him, he took a spoonful of stuffing from its plate. Taking his fork, he grabbed a piece, brought it up to his mouth, and gulped it down.

Mr. Kamiya had his hand on the phone, ready to call an ambulance.

Tai looked around. He was still alive. And it wasn't that bad. Not really…once you got past the corn and olives that was in it for some reason. He smiled hesitantly and said, "It's okay this time."

Mr. Kamiya and Kari smiled in relief.

Finally, they all sat down for Thanksgiving meal.

Later that evening, in their room, Agumon was scarfing down his meal that Tai and Kari had been able to sneak away. Gatomon was looking at hers with her eyebrow raised.

"…what's that supposed to be?"

"Turkey, silly," said Kari, lying on her stomach on the bottom bunk. "See?"

"…it's orange. And it smells like pineapple."

"Yeah, well…Mom said that since pineapple helped strengthen the taste of ham, the same idea should work with turkey."

"…what's that?"

"You mean the green mushy stuff, or the pile of yellow thingies?"

"…both."

"The green mushy stuff is some sort of dish of green beans. Not sure how it turned into a mushy goop, though…the yellow thingies are rolls a la eggplant."

"…I'm not going to ask. Is this orange blob supposed to be pumpkin pie?"

"Nah," said Tai, who was still rubbing his stomach. "That's cranberry sauce. With bread crumbs and mayonnaise mixed in. Not sure where she got the recipe, but it isn't too bad."

"…Agumon, you want my share of the food?"

Agumon looked up from where he was scarfing down the food, and just burped.

Tai looked up sheepishly. "Hey, the foie gras was okay."

Kari smirked and looked up. "Tai, do you even know what foie gras is?"

"…um…pork?"

"Tai, you are so hopeless."

**For those who don't know. Foie gras is French for 'liver.' Yummy, huh? Actually, I like ribs, but I hate the smell of liver. I was going to say 'calamari,' you know, squid, but then I realized that, as this is Japan, they really do eat squid. So…I really can't talk about food preferences, since my favorite is meat loaf (though I really enjoyed the filet mignon I once had…). Yeah. No offense if you like liver or anything exotic, but at my Thanksgiving meals, the most exotic thing we have is my aunt's mashed potatoes. I'm not kidding. They are sort of really watery, yet taste really good...  
**

**Happy Thanksgiving! I'm not looking forward to it. I don't like Thanksgiving. My family is boring. All they do is talk about politics. I just like the car ride.**

**Oh, and I don't like turkey. I mean, I eat it, and I won't fuss, but chicken is so much better!**

**For a fun fact, I'm not sure where I heard this, but did you know that turkey has a chemical in it (enzyme, something like that…) that makes you sleepy? That's why we all want to nap after we eat it…along with the carbohydrates and relaxed atmosphere. So now you know why you are so tired after that big meal…if someone forgets the rolls again this time, I'm going to be super mad.**

**Happy Thanksgiving! Remember; say that you are thankful for hands!**


	37. Air Vents

**Sorry for the long wait. My sis and I started watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, over break, and we've already seen all of the first season (book, whatever you want to call it…). So we've been busy. Hope you all had a good break (or Thanksgiving, since I guess people could still work last weekend) and that Black Friday didn't get to anyone.**

I hated it when Joe was at school.

Not that I missed him and his worrying. Well, maybe I missed it a little. But I could get so lonely! Joe forbad me from using the phone, so I couldn't call anyone else, and he wouldn't let me leave the room. Ever.

It wasn't even like anyone was ever home. Jim only visited a few times each month, his dad was at the hospital all day and all night, and his mom was gone almost as much. I wanted to leave this stupid room and get some food!

And it wasn't even like his room was all that grand or anything. He had me sleeping in his sock drawer. His sock drawer! Joe might be neat and all, but not even I liked to wake up in the morning to smell the remnants of feet all around me. It wasn't that good. At all.

But, at least when Joe was home I was able to have some fun. I hadn't mastered the art of turning on the computer yet, so that was a big no-no, but when Joe came home he would help me turn that on, would turn on the TV too, since I couldn't reach it, and would scratch me behind my ears. He owed me a lot more, but that was enough to keep me from complaining. Too much, that is.

So here I was, home alone, while Joe was at school. And school wasn't even halfway done!

I had taken a nap for the first part of the day. Now it was ten o'clock, and I was bored.

And it wasn't like Joe's magazine racks held anything interesting. They only had boring pictures of doctors and stuff. Though I once found a picture of a woman having a baby…okay, enough with the magazines. I threw them aside and looked around the room I was becoming all too familiar with.

Nothing to do. I didn't want to jump on the bed. Not just because I had fallen off and landed on my head the last few times I had done it. Besides that, the bed was getting boring.

So was the closet. I mean, I couldn't even straighten it up. Joe had to be the only teenager alive with a neat closet. And I mean neat as in organized and dusted and everything.

It was almost annoying. Where were all of his toys, his childhood? I never found any pictures of him at a younger age. It sort of made me sad that he was leaving that behind.

Until I found the air vents.

Who knew that apartment building had conveniently placed ventilation shafts above my head?

After a few attacks at it to open it…ahem, I would have to come up with an excuse for Joe as to why a piece of ceiling had collapsed…and a few hops on the bed to get into it (okay, more like a hundred. It was higher than I had thought.), I was in and moving. With a destination in mind, I headed out, a free ranger.

Well, after that midday run in with the neighbor's cat, since apparently I went the wrong direction the first time, and then nearly scaring some fish into drowning, since apparently I went the wrong direction again, I found it. The almighty kitchen.

Food is very good. That's all I'll say for that part of my journey.

It was a simple matter to get back to Joe's room, with only one run in with a furnace…it wasn't too scary…I was falling headfirst back into Joe's room.

That's when I noticed it. The small chest hidden under Joe's computer desk. It was about my height, and I had been looking for things bigger than me.

I was curious and full, a good mixture for keeping guilt out of my way. Most people think that starving works better, but not for me. So I went and pulled out the chest and opened it.

And my boredom basically evaporated.

Later that day, Joe came home, looking tired and worried. More than likely he had a lot of homework tonight. Not that I was going to let him do it.

"I'm home…what the…" he called as he entered his room. "Uh…Gomamon? Why is there a piece of the ceiling lying on my bed…why is the vent open…oh, tell me you didn't!"

"Yep. I did. It was quite fun."

"Gomamon, did anyone see you?"

"Besides a cat, a few fish, and some mice that were up there, nope."

"…there was a cat in the vents?"

"No, silly. Don't you know your neighbor's pet?"

"…uh, okay, one second. You went traversing the apartment?"

"Yep. Like I said, it was quite fun."

"…what is that in your hands?"

"You mean paws."

"Okay, paws."

"Actually, I think they're flippers…"

"What is that in your two arm thingies!"

"Okay, okay, hold your horses. These," I said, grinning up at my confused partner, "are what we call toys. A toy bear, to be precise."

"…where did you find Carlos?"

"…better question. Who names a teddy bear Carlos?"

"…I was five, okay?"

"Whatever you say. Carlos, the teddy bear, was lying next to Alpha Squid and GI Joe."

"Alfi…Joey…"

"…hmmm. Sorry, but I can't imagine you as an army person. Maybe we should call him GI Jack."

"Hey! You were searching threw my memory's box, weren't you?"

"…yeah. I just found it. There's some really cool things in here, you know that? The doctor toys were fun."

"Yeah, Dad gave them to me when I got my first A on a report card…see that? That's a toy Jim won for me at a fair. It took him like ten tries, though…"

"I like the doll clothes. The sailor outfit. Cute."

"That used to be mine."

"You were once my size? No way!"

And so we spent the rest of the night. Sure, the ceiling might be a little cracked up in some spots, that cat emotionally scarred for life, and Joe might be behind in homework, but I think a trip down memory lane was exactly what he needed. Me too.

**First things first. That wasn't supposed to turn mushy. But it is, and it was fun, so now it is posted. Since you are reading this.**

**Two. Jim is Joe's older brother, attending university. In the sub, he has two brothers, but you may have realized I use dub for everything. Now you know.**

**Okay, so yesterday I found a pair of earmuffs with Kari's crest symbol on them! Okay, so technically not hers, but it has that eight point pink flower (or star, if you prefer), and it looks almost identical. So I had to get them. Mwahahaha!**

**And as I said before, I'm not writing as much because of school (duh) and watching another anime/cartoon thingy. I wouldn't have written this, but I read a really good chapter from Hedgi, and I wanted to write Digimon today because of it. So here.**

**Review! How were your Thanksgivings? Trees up yet for Christmas?**


	38. Fire Drill

**Apologies. Long time, no uploads…sorry. I've had band stuff every day this week…I'll try to get in a Type sooner or later...  
**

_Digi.5…December during the school year…_

A group of kids, six in total, were huddled together outside of the elementary school building. Their huddle was one of many.

"I really hate fire drills!"

"Tai, this isn't a drill."

"I don't care! I'm freezing!"

Sora gave him an exasperated look. "Would you rather be freezing or burning to death?"

"…given the option right now, you're right," he said, looking around thoughtfully. Suddenly he ran out of the circle and toward the vacated building.

Matt ran, grabbed him, and pulled him back to the now laughing group. Sora just glared. "Tai, I didn't mean that!"

"Hey, I'd rather burn than freeze. You asked. Your idea, not mine. Hey, it was a good idea, I'll give you that…"

"Tai, you're mumbling," said Kari, smiling.

"Really, though!" said Mimi, hugging herself tightly, "I'm freezing! We've been out here for like twenty minutes!"

"Thirty-two, to be precise," came Izzy's reply. Mimi just huffed.

"I don't care! That's too long!"

"Oh, come on," said Matt, folding his arms, a hint of a smile on his face, "We've been in colder situations in the Digiworld."

"I don't care!" Mimi stomped her foot. "We aren't in the Digiworld right now. We're here! And I'm cold!"

"See? Mimi entirely agrees with me."

"Tai, that isn't saying much."

"Kari, what's so funny?"

"...it's your fault for wearing shorts in the middle of December."

"How was I supposed to know it would be really cold?"

The sound of sirens came by. All of the group stopped and listened.

"Good. The fire trucks are here. Maybe we'll be able to go inside soon, since it doesn't look like any fire is visible," said Sora, looking around.

About ten minutes later…

"You know what? I really hate fire drills. Why didn't I just bring Agumon with me…I don't want to turn into a Frigimon!"

"…Tai, this isn't a drill."

"I think you two have had this conversation before…" said Izzy, looking around nervously. Still frowning, he looked toward Kari and Matt. "Maybe they should hurry up. This seems to be affecting Tai and Sora's sanity…"

**Okay. Very short. Not so random…before school started today, we had a fire alarm go off…we were outside for more than twenty minutes in the freezing December…um, yeah. All of the kids were heading to their cars to warm up…it was a great way to begin a Friday.**

**Joe and TK aren't mentioned because, well, Joe is in middle school and TK lives in a different city. You probably know that, but I felt like I should mention it…**

**Review! Beg for more chapters, since I haven't been writing nearly enough this week…**


	39. Friendship Bracelets

**I had this idea months ago…September to be exact…I finally got around to writing it. Thanks for reviews and all!**

* * *

Mimi was sitting on a large boulder in the park, a pink baby stroller resting right next to her. Inside, the baby was bawling.

"Palmon, be quiet! Do you want us to get in trouble?"

The green baby looked up. "But, Mimi, you said I should act like a wittle baby. And all of your baby dolls have that button that makes them cry when you press it…"

"Be a quiet baby, for goodness sake!"

"…but babies aren't quiet…"

"Oh, shut up already! And stick out your wrist."

"…I don't have a wrist…"

"You know what I mean!" Mimi said, brandishing a chain of woven threads. Palmon pouted before putting her needled arm out in front of her. Mimi took the chain and tied it around the arm, where it joined ten other similar looking bracelets.

"Mimi, I think you've gotten enough practice on that design. Want to try something new now?"

"But these are friendship bracelets! It means we are best friends forever! I don't want you to ever run out."

"…I think that's impossible, considering the number…can I make you a friendship bracelet?"

"…um…sure?"

* * *

A few hours later, the two friends were heading to Mimi's apartment, Mimi herself pushing the stroller containing the 'baby.' While Palmon had at least fifteen bracelets decorating her arms, Mimi only had one, pink and green. While it was far from perfect, and even farther from looking acceptable, Mimi couldn't help but smile at her friend's creation.

Later that evening, when Mimi sat down to dinner with her parents, her mother noticed the bracelet. "So, Mimi," she said, smiling pityingly at her daughter, "no luck yet with making the bracelets?"

Mimi paused from her salad. "What? No, it's coming along great!"

Her mom pointed. "So then who made that one?"

Mimi smiled. "A friend."

"So you met up with a friend at the park? How sweet!"

"..well, we didn't really meet up…she sort of came along with me…"

"Who is she?"

"…well, she's my best pal…and she sort of doesn't have proper fingers…"

Mimi finished her salad, smiling in bemusement at her mom's confusion.

_

* * *

A bracelet instruction manual and kit: $25_

_A bright pink baby stroller: $40_

_Strawberry ice cream for a hot day: $100_

_A homemade bracelet, complaints from friends, and a memory to cherish: Priceless._

_There are some things money can buy. For everything else, there's friendship._

**

* * *

Anyone notice how Mimi spent the most money on ice cream? A little afraid now…**

**So, I had this planned during September, when my friend and I did this. Well, the bracelets and ice cream bit. Remember Chapter 8, Nature Hike? These both happened in the same day for me…I always was going to write this one. I just didn't know when.**

**Many apologies for the wait between chapters…I've stopped writing a lot. School is almost at winter break, so I'm just tired of the whole ordeal. I'm sorry. I hope this made up for it. I needed this chapter as a bit of a relief from the multitude of snow bombarding where I live…**

**Review! I appreciate you all! Thanks for reading!**


	40. That Pink Soccer Ball

**Hola. How are you all today? So, um, yeah, newest chapter! Finally!**

**This takes place during the episode after Etemon is defeated, when Tai returns to the normal world for a few hours…anyone know what it's called?**

"Tai, I don't have a fever."

"You sure? Do I?"

"…no. Why would you ask?"

Tai looked at me, scratching his chin. He only did that when he had nothing else to do. "Well, I was sort of, well, thinking I imagined going to the Digiworld."

"Tai, you know the Digiworld is real. I'm here, aren't I?" Said the pink ball named Koromon. He looked so familiar to me…I was certain I'd seen him before…

"Well, I was actually hoping I was hallucinating…"

"Oh, I see. I'm so underappreciated here!"

I smirked as I watched the two of them bickering. They obviously had been through a lot together…I frowned as I thought. I think I'd been on an adventure with a Koromon…

A little bit later, after Tai was convinced that holding his hands on his and my foreheads wouldn't help detect a fever, he went rummaging in his closet. It was nice and neat since Mom had cleaned it when he was away at camp.

"Here it is!" He said, holding proudly a small book. I cocked my head as I read the title.

"Tai, why do you need your phonebook?"

He stuck out his tongue at me. "Well, I want to call the others, to see if they made it back okay. I would use this," he gestured at a little watch device that I knew he hadn't had before, lying on his wrist, "but only Izzy really knows how it works, so I'm leaving it be."

While he went about trying to find his friends' numbers (Matt and Sora, I heard him say, along with the boy named Izzy), I showed Koromon our room. I remembered having a Koromon in it, so I was hoping this Koromon might remember it. But he didn't. Nevertheless, he found the room, well, amusing.

Maybe it was a good thing that Mom and Dad were off visiting Grandma.

"This is your room, Kari? It's big!"

I smiled down at the pink ball. "It's okay. Mom says that once we get old enough, she'll convert Dad's study to Tai's room."

"Wow, it's so neat!" he said, coming across Tai's closet. I nodded…for once it wasn't a complete disaster.

Of course, as soon as the thought crossed my mine, the disaster was back. Koromon had been exploring the closet, shifting through shirts and shoes and books on the bottom. Suddenly, he began to buckle. I ran to him.

"Koromon, are you all right?"

Suddenly, the pink soccer ball sneezed.

I've heard Tai sneeze, and for once he was beaten by the thing a fifth of his size. The mess came back to haunt the closet—shirts went on the floor from being nicely hung up, papers from journals flew everywhere…yeah, Mom and Dad wouldn't be happy. But they'd probably just shrug it off, realizing Tai owns the closet…

Tai ran in the room, screaming, "What is it? An earthquake!"

Koromon hid behind me, which I thought was super cute. "No," I said. "It was a pink soccer ball sneezing."

Koromon looked at me indignantly. "I am not a pink soccer ball!"

"Yeah, right, buddy. Well, at least my closet looks normal again." He threw the phone book into the pile, letting out some dust from the far corners. Koromon sneezed again.

"…maybe we should just leave it be…"

"…yeah…"

Tai went back to the living room to try another number, Izzy, who wasn't in his book but was on the soccer team roster, and Koromon and I managed to shove the closet door closed. Tai was in for an avalanche when he tried to open it again, but I don't think he'd mind that much.

Anyway, at the moment, Tai was home and safe. Koromon was back, from wherever he had been for however long…I couldn't remember it all yet. But it was coming back. A giant parrot thing, an egg coming out of Dad's computer, Koromon, but not the same Koromon. A different one. Anyway, at the moment, everything was perfect.

**Of course, you all saw those references. Right? This basically ends right before Izzy contacts Tai via the computer from that strange world.**

**This was another thing I thought could have happened. I wish it did. I love teasing Koromon…he's too cute to resist! Mwahaha!**

**Review! Or I'll set a pink soccer ball with a big sneeze on you! Be afraid…**


	41. At the Pet Store

**Yep. I'm trying to get back on track with my uploads. So here's another one…mwahaha!**

**Only problem is I don't have any idea what to write about…um…any ideas…?**

…**I got it! Enjoy!**

"Kari, I don't know why I'm here. Honestly, this is so demeaning…"

"Gatomon, quiet! You're supposed to be a cat. And cats can't talk. They just sort of meow…"

I yawned in Kari's arms; it seemed like a very cat-like thing to do. After all, those kittens in that cage were giving me quite the stare-down. Might as well dispel suspicion.

"Miss, may I help you find anything?" An employee came out of nowhere wearing a red apron. He smiled politely at the two of us.

I decided that hissing was the right cat-like response.

Kari glared at me, then smiled at the employee. "Yes, please. We…I mean, I was wondering where the cat beds were?"

"Right this way," he said, starting to walk away. Kari followed, gripping me tightly. I squirmed a bit, and she loosened a bit.

The employer stopped in front of a stand of fluffy ovals in the middle of an isle next to the fish department. He gestured at a pile of pink and lacey woven beds.

Ugh.

"Here you are. The perfect bed for your kitten. I would suggest, by looking at her size, a Large." Again I hissed, glaring at him. He noticed and smiled. "What an exotic looking cat! She looks like she's from far away."

Kari laughed. "Yeah. I guess you could say that." The employee smiled again before leaving. I had been starting to wonder if that smile was fixed on his face. If it was, I'd be more than happy to change that…

"So, Gatomon, which one do you like?" Kari put me down and stood back.

I frowned. "What do you mean? They all look the exact same!"

She smiled kindly. "Well, you're the one who said she wanted the bed, not me. I'm more than fine with sharing. Look," she said, leaning over a little purple one, "this one matches your ears and tail!"

"…Kari, I don't care about finding a bed that matches me!"

"Okay. Bye, purple bed…" She walked onward, examining the array of bedding. "This one is really soft."

"…Kari, I don't want this one. It also has little designs of balls of yarn. I don't knit."

"Gatomon, didn't you ever play with yarn?"

"Sure. But I'm not a kitty."

"Yes you are! You're a Digikitty!"

"…I don't want that bed, okay?"

"Sure, sure…hmmm," she frowned, looking onward. "This one?"

"Nope."

"How about this one?"

"Nada."

"Look at how cute this one is!"

"…uh, that's a bowl…"

"Oh. Well, did you see any beds you liked?"

"…how about I just stay sleeping at the foot of your bed."

"Okay."

Just then, Mr. Smiley Employee came up out of nowhere. "Any luck?" he asked.

"Uh, well, my cat doesn't see any beds she likes, so I'm going to look around for other things now…" I gave a quick nod and a purr. The employee smiled and left.

Kari stared at me. "Gatomon," she said, trying not to laugh, "your cat act isn't really working."

"What? It's perfect! See, those cats agree," I said, nodding my head at the collection of kittens. They all glared at me. Hmmm. Maybe it really wasn't working. Oh, well.

Kari gently put me down, telling me to behave while she looked around some. I was more that content to amuse myself by the, ahem, fish…yeah, I hope Kari didn't have to pay for that…

After my expenditure with the little fishies, I decided to continue onwards to the parakeets. Of course, I didn't eat them. Duh. Though I wanted to, birds are sort of louder than fishes when they're frightened…I left before the smiley employee came to see what the ruckus was about.

I passed by the cat toys—why would I have interest in playing? No, I went to find the treat horde.

Kari was by them too, bagging a few of them. She smiled when she saw me walking on all fours. "These are for Miko. I think she'll like them, don't you think?" I pouted. "Of course I'll give a few of them to you, Gato."

I jumped up on the counter and purred my best purr…it might have sounded like a growl, but Kari took my meaning and starting rubbing my head. Sure, I was a Digimon, but I could like a good head-scratch every now and then, couldn't I?

Kari suddenly placed something around my neck. I squirmed a little, trying to see it. Finally, realizing my neck wasn't long enough, I found a metal pole to use as a mirror.

A collar. She was trying to give me a collar.

Okay, so it was a good collar, I'll give her that much. Golden tough fabric with pink circles…no, I wasn't going to wear a collar! I starting trying to take it off.

Kari came to my rescue. "Okay, so you don't want it. Okay. I don't think you'll get lost or anything, but I did want to see this on you."

I suddenly stopped squirming. I hated it when Kari did that, make it seem all sweet and innocent when it, well, was all sweet and innocent. I moaned. "Fine. I'm not going to wear it a lot, but on special occasions…"

She smiled sweetly before finishing unbuckling it and putting it in a little shopping basket along with the bag of treats and some cat toys. I followed her the cash register, and got one last glare in at the happy employee before chasing after Kari as we walked home.

So what if I was a girl. I just wasn't made for shopping. I had yet to find a bed. But maybe the foot of Kari's bed wasn't so bad after all…now if only I could get Tai to stop snoring…

**I love Gatomon and Kari! Don't worry, I'm planning on chapters with the other Digimon and partner friendships. It should be fun, and get me to Christmas…!**

**Review! Which partner set do you like the most?**


	42. Experiments

**I want to get at least fifty of these up by the new year. I hope I can do it…so you get another one today…!**

**And like I said last time, I'm going to follow the Digimon! Starting with Tentomon. Why? Because I don't want to do any of the others right now…**

"Okay, Tentomon, stay still…"

"I wasn't moving, Izzy."

"But now you are! You're talking!"

"…my mouth doesn't really move when I talk…"

"…just stay still, okay?"

I sighed. Izzy was incorrigible at the best of times; when he had an essay or experiment to complete, he was unbearable. At least he was fast at working, or I would have fallen asleep by now.

Right now, he was trying to balance a stack of plates on my head.

I still don't know how Mrs. Izumi was okay with this. She must have been tricked, which I find rather low for Izzy to do to his own mother, adopted though he was. But, really, she had given Izzy a handful of metal dishes, apparently used when she made desserts, and only told him to wash them afterwards. Sometimes life really confused me.

Most days, I just sat in the corner while Izzy worked on homework. Once he got on his computer, I would join him to watch. I was slowly learning more about this strange world, things we wouldn't have thought to try to learn about.

Now, however, I felt entirely clueless. Not a good feeling at all.

"Izzy, is there a point to stacking metal on top of my head?"

"Yeah. I need to boil water."

"…okay, then. I think you've officially lost it…"

He just ignored me and kept on changing the balance of the different metallic dishes.

Why did I have to be partnered with the computer whiz? Couldn't I have been with Tai instead? Tons of food and video games, that was what Agumon got. A life of luxury. Instead I had to act like a balance beam.

Izzy noticed my discontent. "Okay, so I'm increasing the amount of metal that I'm using."

I wanted to shrug, but that would require moving. "Izzy. Please, just tell me what's going on. Stop leaving me in the dark about whatever you are trying to do."

Izzy looked confused. "But, I just told you, I'm increasing the content of metal…"

"Okay. I get it. You need big words to understand." I thought for a moment. "Please explain to me the nature of this project you are performing on my head."

Izzy stared. "Those weren't big words…"

"I don't care! Tell me already!" I jumped up and down in irritation.

Oops.

Izzy's mom came in at the clatter of metal on the floor. She took one look at us, laughed, and went back to whatever she was doing. Hopefully cooking. I liked her cooking.

Izzy began collecting the pans again. "Stay still this time."

Back they went on top of my head. He put a big plate first, followed by smaller ones organized in different balances.

I groaned. "Okay, just talk."

Izzy nodded. "Sure. You could have just asked instead of getting all worked up." He continued before I could get my groan out. "So, I'm creating a hot plate."

"…like they use to heat up beakers and all in chemistry labs?"

"Basically, yes."

"…uh, that doesn't really answer my question. Why are you doing this?"

"Well, I wanted to conduct a science experiment on how long it took heat to travel through metal. I've been researching different conductor values. But I can't use the stove fire, since oxygen in the air could make the pans change colors, which wouldn't help my experiment out…"

"So you want to use electricity."

"Basically, yes."

"Okay, Izzy, I don't know if this has crossed your brain yet or not, but why not just use an electrical outlet?"

"…I wanted faster results?"

I grimaced. Sort of hard to do when your mouth barely moves. "Izzy, you just want to compare my electricity with normal electricity results, right?"

Izzy looked embarrassed. "Do I have to answer that?"

"Yes."

"Basically, yes."

I sighed. Why did life here have to be so much harder than fighting evil monsters? "Izzy, I am not a hot plate. Nor am I an alien."

"I know you aren't an alien."

"Oh, well, when I first met you, you thought we were aliens that kidnapped you for experimentation…"

"That was a long time ago!"

"Sure, sure…"I shrugged. This time when the plates came off, we left them there.

I decided to break the silence. "Oh, and please don't try to test whether or not I'm a beetle."

"Hey, don't worry. I know you're a ladybug."

I grimaced while Izzy collected the plates. His mom was standing by the door.

"Didn't work, did it?" she said, smiling kindly.

I was stunned when Izzy shook his head. "Wait, you were in on this the whole time?"

Mrs. Izumi smiled. Unfortunately, yes. He said it was in the name of science…"

…sometimes I hated the name of science…

**Yay! Another chapter done! I love Izzy, and please don't say this is OOC. I mean, think about that episode with him and Mimi, when he decides to decode ancient runes instead of look for his friends. This could be him.**

**And, yes, I find pleasure in annoying Tentomon. He has the funnest voices when he complains…**

**Review! What do you think? Should I continue in my marathon of Digimon?**


	43. Video Games

**I'm on a role, aren't I? Like I said, I need to get all of these fifty in by new years…that means I'll have uploaded more than fifty documents on here in less then five months. That says something about me, doesn't it? I would calculate it, but I don't feel like it…let's just say this year has been really productive for me!**

**This time, Agumon and Tai. Oh, and quick Disclaimer: For whatever system you imagine them playing, I did not help invent, nor own any rights to. There. Happy?**

I don't know how why I had thought this would be a good idea.

Okay, so I realized I don't know much about the human world—very little, in fact. But, well, I have a good excuse. Living in the Digiworld sort of makes it hard to understand all these human customs!

But when Tai was just sitting in front of a television, clicking a few buttons on this remote device, I was confused.

"Oh, you mean this? This is a video game," he had said when I had asked him about it one day. His parents were out at a convention and he was house sitting with Kari and Gatomon, and, of course, me.

"What's a video game?"

He had laughed. "Honesty? For a mon from the Digiworld, you don't know a lot about electronics."

I had pouted. "What's a video game?"

Tai had laughed. Again. "Well, Agumon, a video game is a, well…hmm. It's hard to explain. You use a television set, a gaming system, and a controller, and play games. Like on the computer."

"Oh. Can I play?"

Tai looked dubious. "Well, this is a racing game…how about you watch what I do, and then I'll help you play against Kari."

"Gatomon, you want to learn too?" Kari had asked, holding a pink controller.

Gatomon yawned. "Nope," she said, stretching and then curling into a ball next to Kari, "I'm perfectly content with not making a fool of myself, thank you very much. I'll leave that to you."

I had shrugged her comment off. Gatomon, besides her snide and sarcastic commentary, didn't mean what she said. She was tired. That was all. I sat down next to Tai as he and Kari began to set up for a new game. Tai showed me the controller.

Wow. There was a lot of buttons. For a dinosaur with claws, I wasn't sure if I could handle it. Then I remembered how much fun Tai had been having, and decided to listen to what Tai was saying.

"This," he pointed to one of the miniscule buttons on his black controller, "is the A key. Here's B, you can use the arrows, and pointing the remote at the screen can help control it…boy, this is hard. I've never had to teach Kari how to play."

"I'm just that great!"

"Yeah, right. Anyhow, how about you watch me and Kari play and see what we do?"

I thought that was a good idea, so I sat down next to Tai and watched Kari win against him...multiple times. He blamed his bad luck on trying to show me what to do, but Kari said it was her superior skills.

Anyway, by the end of a few rounds, he gave up and gave me the controller, telling Kari to be easy on me.

It felt heavier than it looked, and fit oddly in my clawed hand. Still, I covered all the buttons that Tai told me to cover, and practiced pressing them and moving the remote around a few times. Finally, Tai said it was time to start the game.

I don't think I need to explain what happened. But I have to, so here it goes…

_Three…two…one…GO!_

I pressed down on the 'gas' key, and off we were. Surprisingly, I wasn't too bad…okay, so Kari was still ahead of me, but I was catching up by the second lap.

"Okay, Agumon, less jerking the remote, more fluid movements to turn…that's it, that's it," Tai said, acting as my coach. I was rapidly getting the hang of this!

Then, on the third, final lap, it happened. An opening. I had gotten this boost that would let me speed up, the finish line was in sight…and so was Kari. However, she was only a little ahead of me. I could make it. I glared at the screen, waited a moment, then hit the button to activate the speed up as hard as I could.

The sound of screeching and popping didn't come from the television.

Maybe I hadn't rationed in my claws.

Whatever the cause for our problem, the gaping whole in the controller was a little hard to ignore.

"Oops," I said, dropping the controller and leaning back.

Tai just stared for a few moments. Then he started to laugh.

"Okay," he said between fits of rolling on the ground chuckling, "now we can officially cross 'playing video games' off the list of Do's and Do Not's…"

Apparently my orange hide didn't stop a blush coming on.

Kari's voice interrupted my partner's laughter and my shock. "So, do I win?

Gatomon surprised us. Without lifting her head from where it was resting, she said in a sing-song voice, "I think the game is void. Still, I do want to see your parents' reactions to the new look to the controller…"

That stopped Tai short and had me laughing, the blush still evident on my face.

**Mwahahaha! This is why Digimon don't play video games…though I can imagine Veemon at the arcade…**

**Anywho, review. Be in the Christmas spirit! Not long now…**


	44. Why Birds Don't Cook

**Okay, so I've started my first serious fic for Fanfiction…unfortunately it's not for Digimon. Nope. It's for Doctor Who. So, anybody want to read it? Look on my profile…chapter 1 is up…!**

**Anywho, I need to get a few of these up each day to make my deadline…so here we go. This time, Sora and Biyomon.**

"Sora, I'm hungry."

"Well then, why don't you have some of the leftovers?"

I frowned—not easy to do when your main facial feature is a beak. "I'm getting a little tired of eating celery, Sora."

My partner was sitting on her bed, drawing something for her art class. She sighed. "Well, then, why don't you make something to eat?"

I shrugged, then started cleaning out my feathers. "Because," I said through a mouthful of fuzz, "I don't know how to cook."

Sora looked up. "Well, then, why don't you learn?"

Now I looked up. "Learn? Would your Mom let me learn to cook?"

"What she doesn't know can't hurt her…"

I thought about it for a second. As much as I was afraid about trashing the kitchen, I really wanted to eat a real meal instead of just vegetables and tofu. While Sora and her mom weren't vegetarians, they may as well be with the amount of veggies they kept stockpiled.

"Let's get started!" I flew up and down the stairs to the kitchen. Behind me, I could hear Sora put her notebook down and make her way down the stairs.

"Okay, so first things first. We have to wash our hands," my partner said, standing in front of the sink. She took a handful of soap, washed her hands thoroughly, and then dried them using the towel. When she was done, she looked to me.

"That sounds easy enough." I started to reach for the sink…and discovered that I was too short standing on the ground. Thinking hard, I pulled a chair over and stood on top of it. I could reach it perfectly. I turned on the sink, and got some soap on my, well, wings.

Let me say this loud and clear. Soap and feathers doesn't mix well together. The next five minutes were spent collecting fuzz and trying to stop the faucet from shooting out water…I still don't know how I broke it.

"Biyomon, why on Earth are you molting? I thought birds only molted when it got warm, not the other way around…" my partner said as she helped clean up my mess while I sat back and watched, my beak down.

"…um, I'm not from Earth. Remember? Maybe the Digiworld is different…"

"Well, I guess the first thing to do is NOT wash your hands…er, wings. Okay," she stood up, the mess mostly gone save a feather or two. "The actual first step is to figure out what you are going to make. Now, I'm not nearly as good as Matt, and Mimi makes better cookies than anyone else I know, but how about we try a…"

"A hot fudge sundae!"

"…we are baking, not creating ice cream desserts. That's too easy."

"Oh. How about brownies, then?"

"…sure. We have the instant mix, so it shouldn't be too much hastle…" She went to go and find the box of brownie mix. I started taking out bowls and spoons.

"Here it is! Oh, you took out the materials. Thanks!" she said, bringing back a box with some of the chocolatey goodness on the cover. Okay, so I didn't have Agumon's appetite, but I wanted something good and, well, unhealthy, today.

"So, we're going to use this pan, since it's one that the recipe calls for…can you break those two eggs into the mix for me while I get the vegetable oil and water? Thanks!" She went over to the sink.

I stared at the two eggs she had given me.

Two little white ovals, smooth and hard, full of what once was life but was now food.

Eggs. There had once been baby birds in these. They would have had a future if they hadn't been needed for the general food supply…

"Anything wrong?" Sora said as she came back, pouring water into the mix and oil. She noticed the eggs I was still holding. "Oh."

"I can't destroy a baby birdie! No! Wahhhh!" I put the eggs down gently and sat on top of them. I would be their mom.

Sora tried to console me. "…Biyo, those eggs will never hatch! Get off of them…we need them to make your food…"

"I'm not hungry anymore! Wah!"

"Biyo, please…oh, this isn't working," Sora said. She decided to try to make the brownies while I sat on the counter, guarding my two eggs. I looked away when she cracked her eggs. Still, the sound wasn't pretty.

After she put them in the oven, she sat down next to me.

"Biyo…" she began, but I cut her off.

"Listen, Sora, I am not giving up on these eggs."

She looked at me. "Biyomon, when we were in the Digital World, and Matt cooked us all some eggs, you didn't complain then. Why now?"

"Because," I said, looking around, "I didn't cook them then."

Sora smiled. "Well, then, why don't I cook them for the two of us?"

"…but…"

"Look, Biyo, they'll never hatch. Might as well help the rest of us out instead of just rotting away."

Silently, I relented. I'm sorry, baby birdies, but I was still hungry. Just not for the chocolate goodness.

Sora and I shared a wonderful dinner that night, and a great dessert.

Still, I hope Sora doesn't realize I hid a baby egg under her pillow later that night…that might cause some problems…then again, it is starting to smell funny inside her room…

**I started to think about what funny things Biyo could do…then I thought of cooking. Since I've got a lot of chocolatey goodness next to me, and I don't feel like sharing!**

**Review! I'm still on track! Check out my other stories! Have a good Saturday!**


	45. Santa

**Okay. Patamon's turn. So, this is more in-season (today is the 21****st**** of December), but I thought the idea was cute. I don't remember if I've discussed this on a Chat or not, but I don't care. Have fun!**

"TK, who's that guy in the red suit?"

"He's Santa!"

"…what kind of name is Santa?"

"Um…well, his last name is Claus…"

"Claws?" I said, confused. "Claws? If his last name is claws, why are kids going up to him to hug him?"

"Silly, it's 'Clause,' not 'Claws,'" TK said, smiling down at me.

"There's a difference?"

"Well, I never saw the difference either, but Mommy made sure I knew it."

"So," I said, looking at the fat man in the red suit and beard, who was talking to a little kid at the moment, "who is Santa?"

"You don't know who Santa is?"

"…that's sort of the point of this conversation, TK…"

TK looked at me, dumbfounded. I pouted in turn. "Well, Santa is this jolly fat man that gives out presents on Christmas. He flies around reindeer in a sleigh, and lives in the North Pole!"

I just stared. "TK…why are all those kids going to him, then, if he isn't due until a few more days?"

TK smiled as he got in the line. "Well, we ask for what we want, and he brings them to us! Simple as pie!"

"Simple as pie? What does that mean?"

"I dunno. I guess pie is easy to make…?"

"If it is, why doesn't Matt send any to us?"

"…good question. I'll ask him next time I see him."

I smiled and hid under TK's hat. Nobody really minded a hat talking to my partner; as far as I could tell from under the hat and TK's startling amount of blonde hair underneath, the whole place around us was a disaster area. Really, it was like Primary Village had gotten hit by a tornado. I shuddered at the thought. All around were screaming kids and overwhelmed parents, clutching their daughter or son's arms and trying to get them to stop screaming. All around, workers were trying to hold back the masses.

It was very frightening to say the least.

"TK, why is Santa so fat?"

"Well, see, apparently Mrs. Claus makes the best cookies. Plus, he eats all the cookies and milk we leave for him when he gives everyone their presents on Christmas night."

"We have to leave him cookies? What if I forget and eat them all?"

"You can't do that!" TK's eyes were wide. "If you did that, we would never get our presents!"

I squirmed. I wanted presents.

The line slowly progressed. No one seemed to notice me go in and out of TK's hat, going from his head to his arms and back again. Finally, the smell of peppermint wafted to us as we became next in line. By that point I had nearly fallen asleep, but I was wide awake again in a heartbeat, sitting in TK's arms.

"Next," came the droll voice of a worker dressed in a green frilly suit and pointed shoes, with a hat with big ears on. I wondered what he was trying to be.

TK ran forward, a smile on his face. He launched himself toward the big man in the red suit, but missed, landing at Santa's feet. The man laughed and helped TK, and me, onto his lap, where he smiled down at us. His white beard tickled.

"Hello, dear child. What's your name?" he said in a deep voice.

"I'm TK! I'm eight! And this is Patamon!"

Santa smiled down at us. "Why, hello, TK. And hello, Patamon. He's a very nice toy. It appears pigs do fly."

I frowned. "I'm not a pig!" I said, but my words were lost as Santa began to speak to TK again.

"So, child, what do you want for Christmas?"

TK squirmed. "Well, I want a new game system, and a toy action figure from that one movie, and a harmonica like my brother has! And a way to the Digiworld."

Santa laughed. "Anything else?"

TK frowned. "Well," he said, "I would ask for Daddy and Matt to live with me and Mommy again, but I tried that last year and it didn't come true. Think it could this year?"

Now it was Santa's turn to squirm. "I'll see what I can do. No guarantees, of course. So, have you been a good boy this year?"

"Yep! I helped save the world!"

"Oh, did you, now?" Santa laughed. "No coal for you then. Off you go. Here's a gift to last until Christmas." He handed TK a small bag, and waved us off.

A little bit away, I frowned. "TK, I wasn't able to tell him what I wanted!"

"Don't worry, Patamon, I bet he already knows. He watches us when we're sleeping and when we're awake. At least, that's what the song says."

"What was he meaning about the coal?"

"Well, if you aren't a good kid, or Digimon, I guess, you get coal instead of presents," my partner said, putting me on his head and shifting through the goody bag. "Yay, a stuffed dinosaur!"

I suddenly got frightened. What if Santa saw all the times I had cried, or gotten mad at TK, or fought other monsters…that was good, wasn't it? That couldn't be counted as being bad, could it? Oh no!

"TK, I'm not going to get any presents! I'm only going to get coal!" I started sobbing. Luckily, I didn't stand out amidst a ton of other loud kids.

TK looked up. "What do you mean, Patamon? You're one of the nicest people…Digimon…I know!"

I stopped crying. "Really?"

"Yep! Come on, I want to try out this mini-parachutist! Mind blowing him a bit higher?"

"Sure!"

**So, I always wondered, what if you wanted coal for Christmas? I mean, I sort of did…it seemed so cool. I never got any. I was always frightened my stocking would be full of black stuff…luckily, I guess I managed to stay a good girl!**

**So, how was my ideas on the reaction of two little 'boys' when meeting Santa? Since I miss sitting on Santa's lap…oh, and I made a snowman yesterday! During a blizzard!**

**I hate winter. Not that you don't know that. Well, review, give Season's Greetings, be festive, whatever. Just review!**


	46. A Christmas Story

**Pairing fics will continue as soon as this holiday is over, okay? For now, I need some Christmassy related things. No offense to any Kwanzaa or Hanukah celebrators out there…I've never took place in celebrating those, so I'm writing about what I know of.**

**This is animelover inf's idea. Okay, so I stretched it a bit, but I think it turned out good…**

**Oh, and I know this makes no sense. Really, I see the plot holes in it. But, for the holidays, please don't get mad, okay?**

* * *

Myotismon was sitting in a large chair by a fire, trying to relax. He still didn't know how Demidevimon had convinced him to do this.

"It'll be fun, boss," he had said, that characteristic sly smile on his face. "Come on, you have to have a little bit of fun every now and then."

Myotismon had not been amused even slightly. "Demidevimon, you do realize that I am trying to take over the world, right? Both worlds. That won't happen if I stop to have fun."

Demidevimon had ran back behind the shadows, glaring as a new figure stood forward. "Lord Myotismon, as much as I hate to agree with the bat, he is right," came a sly feminine voice. "A Christmas party will do more than just fun, however. You can use it to create an alliance with the Dark Masters and other such Viruses, ensuring your success for the future."

Myotismon smiled. "Gatomon, as always, your ideas are useful. As you suggested, we will go forward with the Christmas party…though I have no idea what Christmas is, it mentions it in some of my books about the human world. We might as well have a taste of their culture before we go storming in." He pointed at Demidevimon. "You, go and get everything set up. Gatomon will check on it from time to time. Make sure nothing goes wrong."

That was how it had started. Not too long ago. Myotismon was trying to figure out what Christmas really was…his collection of books wasn't helping a lot. Still, he read, gaining bits and pieces of knowledge.

"Santa Claus…a jolly fat man? Maybe I can get Piedmon to dress up in one of his disguises…toys. Well, Devimon has control of Monzaemon…that shouldn't be too difficult. And maybe a small dose of Forgetful Mushrooms if this plan goes wrong…"

* * *

By the next day, everything was set up. Everything was clean—not that things got dirty in Myotismon's castle. Dinner was being cooked, presents were created with the help of an unwilling Monzaemon and a dark ring, the stockings were hung by the chimney with care—no, that was from that storybook. Still, everything was set up; Cherrymon himself was acting the fabled tree.

The first guest arrived promptly. Puppetmon, a dark suit on to celebrate the occasion and his hammer nowhere in sight, was let into the castle by Gatomon. "No sense waiting around…especially when there are games to be played!"

Machinedramon was too big to come in, but he had hooked up a computer with portable access and was thus watching the proceedings on a screen.

MegaSeadramon also was too big…curse big Digimon! Myotismon didn't care, but the giant sea monster didn't attend, instead choosing to play around a small lake nearby the gates.

Of course, other Digimon came in and out, some Viruses, others…not so much. The party crashers were sent out of the highest tower…back to the guest list, shall we?

Devimon appeared in a white tux…not the best of sights…with LadyDevimon at his side in a black beaded dress. After Demidevimon greeted his superiors, Myotismon appeared in the grand hallway.

"That's everyone for now. Please, step this way—we have live entertainment provided by a very influential source…" He led the party into the dining hall. The table had been moved away and replaced with a small refreshments bar manned by Nanimon. A Frigimon stood nearby, cooling anything that needed to be cooled. Similarly, a Meramon overlooked the food and hot chocolate stand. In one corner of the large room, a stage had been erected, sided by amplifiers and an assortment of microphones. _(AN: Any guesses who the live entertainment is before I ruin it and tell you? Oh, and for any of the previous or following Digimon, they all starred in different 01 episodes. Look them up if you can't remember…I did choose them with reasons…!)_

The assortment of different Viruses began the party awkwardly, looking around to see what everyone else was doing. As soon as Puppetmon had destroyed the punch bowl (where did that hammer come from?) and started riding the toy train around Cherrymon, most of them relaxed and began to enjoy themselves…somewhat.

Until the entertainment decided to show up.

"And now, a special appearance by none other than…" Myotismon stepped off of the stage, everyone's eyes on it.

"ETEMON!" The giant monkey ran out and screamed his name, beginning to sing immediately.

Needless to say, at this point most were unphased by this turn of events, but, still, Puppetmon threw the monkey out the window before long, assisted by Devimon and Gatomon.

"Ho ho ho. Merry Christmas…" came a sarcastic voice from the chimney area. Everyone backed away and looked toward it, fear and suspicion clouding their eyes.

From the chimney emerged a big Digimon in a red suit, grimacing as he hauled a giant bag on his shoulder and over to the Christmas tree.

Machinedramon started laughing from his webcam. "Piedmon? Really?"

"Unfortunately. Myotismon, this is the worst idea you ever had, you know that?" Piedmon, er, Santa, said, starting to hand out presents.

"No, it's the best! We should do this every year," came Puppetmon, running forward with a box from 'Santa' in his hands. He bent down and tore the paper off the package. Inside was a toy labeled "Bop It." _(AN: I do not own that game, whether officially or at my house.) _"Cool!"

"What do I have here?" came Etemon. He had been let back inside after swearing to not sing for the rest of the evening, and instead had been hanging around the eggnog. He opened a flat package, revealing a book, and read, "_To Sing for Dummies. _Great! Though whoever got me this must have never heard me…need a demonstration?" After a series of head shaking, he said, "That's too bad. I do a killer Silent Night. Oh, well."

"You shouldn't have. A series of long extension cords. Just what I needed," came Webcam Machinedramon. He sounded truly touched, which in itself scared Myotismon, who was opening his gift.

"Sunscreen and sunglasses. How, uh, thoughtful."

"I thought it might come in handy for when you take over the human world," came Piedmon's brisk reply as he handed a gift to Devimon and LadyDevimon.

"…a stuffed bat. Why would I want a stuffed bat?" With a wave of his hand, Devimon burned the bat up.

"For that reason, obviously. Oh, a new comb! You know I love to take care of my hair!" LadyDevimon smiled.

"And, oh, I got myself a juggling kit. Because I had to be Santa this year." Piedmon threw the empty bag on the ground. "Next year, I vote MegaSeadramon is Santa."

"But he doesn't have claws."

"I don't care. He is Santa. End of story. I have no idea how humanity can survive with such a foolhardy tradition."

"Humanity survives with a lot of stupid things, I've found. Still, they won't for long…" Myotismon smiled. If nothing else came of that night, watching Piedmon lope around as Santa was entirely worth it. Maybe he should start planning next year's party…

'Merry Christmas to all, and to all an evil night!'

* * *

…**again, I apologize for any miscalculations, since I think I already know of them. Anyway, I don't own anything mentioned in this, duh. So, there's your holiday chapter! Tomorrow's Christmas, so I felt the need to post something…yeah, maybe we should start fearing the holiday chapters. For sanity's sake. Wait, I already lost that…**

**Review! Be in the festive mood! And Merry Christmas!**


	47. Musical Instruments

**Matt and Gabumon's turn. I wonder what their story will be about…**

"Matt, I want to learn to play an instrument."

My partner stared at me for a moment before he started to laugh, setting his guitar down and rolling around his bedroom.

I didn't know I was a comedian…okay, Matt was really starting to annoy me, what with his maniac laughter. I went up to him and hit him on his arm. That stopped him from rolling, but silent laughter now proceeded.

"Matt, seriously, I want to learn to play an instrument!"

"Good one, buddy. I thought you were serious for a second…" he stopped laughing when he saw my expression. "Okay. Um, Gabumon, remember what Tai said happened when he tried to teach Agumon to play a video game?"

I squirmed. "…it was destroyed?"

"Yeah. Um, instruments cost a bit more than a gaming controller."

"But I'm no Agumon. I could do it."

Matt stared at me. "Gabumon, remember when we were setting up our Christmas tree? We only have two ornaments up. Now why is that?"

"…those bulbs kept on jumping out of my hands?"

"Exactly. And when we were trying to rake leaves for my aunt?"

"…that rake slipped…it was misting…!"

"Exactly. Do I need to name any more incidences when your, er, strength destroyed a valuable item?"

"Rakes aren't that valuable."

"…stick on topic, okay?"

"Please?" I tried to bring about the cutest expression I could.

Judging by Matt's look of disbelief, I failed horrible. "Okay," he said, sighing and starting to stand up, "I'll teach you to play an instrument if you stop squinting your eyes like that. Just, please, don't break anything. I had to buy this all, you know."

I smiled kindly at my partner. He grinned back before heading to his closet. He shuffled around in there for a bit before heading back to me, pulling up a chair for himself. "Here," he said, handing me a small whistle. "Try this."

I took the whistle into my paws and turned it around a few times. "I was hoping for something a bit grander, you know."

Matt glared at me. "Just try it. If you don't break it, we'll move onwards and upwards. Okay?"

"Sure." I put the whistle to my lips and tried to blow.

I think I tried too hard. Matt and I just stared at each other while the fire alarms started.

"Um…I didn't mean to shoot blue fire, honest…"

"…I realized that…now how do we shut that off?" He gestured at the alarm coming from the kitchen. The next thirty minutes were spent with Matt trying, and failing, to shut off the alarm. In the end, I just shot my fire at it. That silenced it up enough. Not saying that Matt's father would agree, but still…

"Next?"

Matt smiled and handed me a small wooden stick. "This is a recorder. Similar to the whistle. Try covering the holes and blowing…softly…into it. Okay?"

I nodded, let go of my coat, and tried blowing as softly as I could. Matt smiled. "Okay, a little harder…more, more…that's it…good!" I produced a small, but clear, sound.

"Okay, now start to cover those holes there. Good. See? You're getting this!" I played a simple tune, smiling all the while. For once, this was actually working!

Of course, I had to think something, didn't I? I guess I was getting carried away. I began moving my fingers more and more, getting out more complicated rhythms when suddenly, crack!

Matt threw the remains of the instrument in the trash. "First of all, I can buy another without much expense. Second of all, splintered wood will only cut you." I looked down. "Hey, it's okay. We'll find something besides a woodwind for you to play."

I looked up at him. "You really think I can do music?"

"Of course! Just don't sing, and you'll do fine!"

Next on our list of instruments to break—I mean try—was the guitar, since Matt wouldn't let me anywhere near his precious harmonica. "Okay, nice and simple. Try to, um, keep your claws at a minimum, okay? Fingers only. Hold it like this…yeah…and strum, like this."

I strummed.

"Maybe not like that." Luckily for the two of us, Matt had an extra set of strings, so we began trying to teach me guitar without much of a wait. "Now, a little gentler this time." After I broke through the second pair of strings, we gave up on the guitar institution altogether.

"Now what?" Matt said, staring at his ceiling.

"Give up," I said, frowning.

"No! We will not give up! There is something out there. Something that isn't effected by strength or claws or firepower…"

"Is there such a thing?" We both sat there, frowning. Until Matt jumped up, a look of elation on his face. "What? What did you think of?"

"I've got it! The perfect instrument! One second…" My partner ran off, out of the room. I sat there, confused. What had Matt thought of that I could play?

Matt came back into the room, smiling a crazy smile. In his hands were two gourd-like things, colorful and about as big as my fist. He handed them to me, and told me to hold them by the thin points. I did. "Now shake them," he said. I did.

"Is this really music?"

"It's called percussion. You'd probably destroy a drum set, but maracas are perfect! Now play them to the beat I'm going to play on my harmonica."

Together, we made music. After two destroyed instruments and a few sets of guitar strings, much complaints, a dead fire alarm and a quarry of annoyed neighbors (Matt told them that he had been playing a video game), I found a way to make music.

Finally.

**Ta da! Sorry, I love music…I had to do that. And Matt is the musician of the Destined, isn't he? Might as well pass it on to his partner!**

**So, I had a lovely Christmas. Two new journals, a HP Deathly Hallows necklace, tons of chocolate…this will all lead to new stories. Eventually. Be afraid, as always.**

**Happy Holidays! Review. And thanks so much for reading!**


	48. Of Lessons Learned

**I'll finish up partner fics later. But I have to get three of these out today to meet my self-made deadline of fifty Haha's by the new year, and today, of course, is New Year's Eve…yeah, I procrastinate, don't I?**

**I have absolutely no idea when this takes place. Great, huh? Okay, I guess the best setting for this one is human world, Digimon included, of course, sometime after the defeat of Apacolymon. School just began for the Destined, so late August, I guess.**

**Warning: this fic contains an abnormally large amount of 01 references. I do use dub names, like you haven't noticed, so I hope it doesn't annoy anyone too much.**

"This is stupid!"

"Tai, you should have seen it coming. It always happens…" Matt droned off.

"I know! That's what makes it such a cruel and unusual punishment!" Tai pushed a swing. The Destined were gathered in the park, playing around and talking. There Digimon were in various disguises: Agumon, Tentomon, and Gabumon were in hoodies and gym shorts; Palmon and Biyomon were sharing Mimi's pink stroller; Gomamon and Patamon were acting as toy animals in their respective partners laps; and Gatomon was pretending to be a normal cat, not that that idea was working out too well.

"Tai, it can't logically be unusual if you know it's going to happen every year," Joe said from a separate swing, where he was trying to keep his feet on the ground.

"Joe, stop being logical," Tai said, pushing a swing again, harder than he intended. The following 'Umph' alerted him of his mistake. "Oh, sorry, Kari. You okay?" He rushed forward to help his little sister, who had just fallen off of said swing.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She got up. "Tai, what are you so upset about anyway?"

"Yeah, from all this commotion, you would think a Monochromon was attacking," came Gatomon's swift addition. Noticing the glare from Tai, she went back to trying to nap at the bottom of a slide.

Matt brought TK's swing to a stop, he himself sighing. "Every year we have to write an essay about something we learned over the summer. But we weren't even in summer camp that long…most of the time, in our opinion, at least, was spent in the Digiworld! So what did we learn?"

Mimi got up from where she was braiding grass. "How about your crest trait?"

"Something a little less cheesy, but that was our first, and only, idea, too," Tai said, sitting on the swing Kari had been on. The other Digimon and Destined started to gather.

"Hmmm. How about the understanding of prophecies? But that would be a little hard to explain…and it isn't really applicable for a school topic…yeah, never mind," came Izzy.

"You could do it on dinosaurs, since Agumon is a dinosaur!" TK said, smiling.

"Tai, what's a dinosaur?" Agumon looked at his partner curiously.

"Um, no, thanks," Tai said. "Agumon, I'll show you a documentary about them later, okay?" Agumon nodded.

"Um, to never accept candy from strangers?"

"…Patamon, we never saw any candy except the ones TK had stored in his backpack."

"Oh, yeah, right…"

"Stranger danger? That happened…a lot," Sora said, a soccer ball under her arm.

"No! How on Earth am I supposed to explain that without it sounding like I was abducted?"

"Plus, I need a topic too, as do you, Sora," said Matt, frowning. "What topic are you using?"

"Um…that family is important, as are friends?"

"See, that's the cheesy nonsense that will get you an easy A. But Matt and I need something…different!" Both boys sighed.

Kari stepped forward. "How about not to go to places you don't know?"

Matt looked up. "But we enjoyed the Digiworld…"

"No, not like that. I mean, remember Machinedramon's city? And Puppetmon's mansion? I'm sure the rest of you went to places that were traps, right?"

The other seven Destined along with seven Digimon looked at each other.

"You know, she's right," said Sora. "Devimon's castle, remember? It seemed all nice, but it was all an allusion…"

"Yeah, and that Yokomon village. But they didn't really have a choice to be attacked by Meramon…" Biyomon smiled as she remembered her little friends.

"The creepy factory? That was a complete trap."

"Tentomon, it wasn't really Andromon's fault…"

"Exactly, Sora. That's what makes it a trap."

Mimi looked up. "What about those ruins that Izzy and I found? And I got lost in?"

"But those were supposed to be a sort of shrine. Not a trap. I blame the Dark Gears on that…"

"Yeah, whatever," said Mimi. "You got to stick around sitting all comfortable while I was running and trying not to fall in pits!"

Izzy looked like he was going to say something, but decided against it.

"What about that cruise ship? Where we got turned to stone?" Said Palmon.

"Yeah, and the Pagumon village. They were just plain evil," came Agumon.

"And there were always creepy Numamon hiding in vending machines," Biyomon added.

"Don't forget about Monzaemon's city, although that really wasn't his fault…"

"Yeah, Gabumon, being chased by toys isn't the owner of the cities fault…" Matt smirked.

"Well, Digitamon's Diner was a trap if I ever saw one," said Joe, shuddering at the thought.

"Yeah, so was the amusement park Matt and I found!" TK smiled. "I'm just glad we didn't eat the mushrooms…"

"You all are scaring me. You would think you would learn a trap after the first twenty times," Gatomon yawned.

"Gatomon, you fell for traps too. Remember the 'Snack Bar' where MegaSeadramon tried to make you all toast?" Gomamon said, smirking as he remembered. Gatomon just glared at him before trying to nap again.

"Well, technically my castle wasn't a trap, but it wasn't the best idea I've ever had," said Mimi. Palmon, Tai, and Agumon nodded.

"Really, you'd have thought we'd have realized the trouble before we would get caught…" Matt laughed.

"…I just think you all were too reckless," Kari said, smiling.

"So, Tai, Matt, does that give you enough of a lesson learned?" Izzy said, looking toward his laptop.

Tai and Matt looked at each other. "Yeah, I guess it does. So, don't go to a strange place. Okay."

"Yeah, seeing as strange places were our definition of our summer," Tai said, looking at all the Digimon.

* * *

_So, over the summer, I did a lot of things. Most of which was running and screaming. I made friends, destroyed enemies, stuff like that. It got a little boring after a while._

_But I learned one life lesson: try to know where you are and where you are going. I can't even begin to explain how much trouble I had because of not knowing where I was. Not everyplace is as safe as I could want it to be. I could be talking about creepy monkeys, vampires, and mushrooms that were entirely unhealthy, but I don't think you'd believe me._

_But, still, going to an uncharted world taught me a few things. Especially that you can't trust vending machines and comfortable looking houses. Those are usually traps, much to my dislike. So my lesson was to know where you are, and question a building before you enter. Who knows what trap might be waiting?_

"So, Kari, what do you think? An 'A+,' huh?"

"…Tai…um, can you make this a little more understanding for the teachers? I don't think they want this to be a fictional piece…"

"But this isn't fiction! It isn't even on TV!"

"…the teachers don't know that…"

**Okay, cheesiness over. Anywho, that was way to much 01 references, wasn't it? Your cruel and unusual punishment is over with, for the moment…so, did I miss any traps/places? Any you can think of from 01?**


	49. Caught in a Storm

**Okay, second upload today. I should start dating these, shouldn't I? Okay…um…what to write about…?**

**Oh, and it's about to start storming, so I don't know if I'll be able to get these all up…! Ah! Which just gave me an average idea…**

**Note: I am not a Taiora supporter or hater. I just don't write romance. This is just a fic of friendship. Okay?**

"Tai, there's a reason why we don't play soccer in the middle of a thunderstorm…"

"Sora, be quiet!"

"Honestly. I'm going to get sick, and it will be entirely your fault!"

"How was I supposed to know a storm would appear out of nowhere?"

"Um, because Izzy told us?"

"…be quiet, okay?"

"Nope!"

"…meanie!"

"I know. So, have you learned your lesson?"

"…what lesson? Soccer is awaiting me."

"Tai, you are hopeless."

"That's what Kari always says, and I don't know why."

"Come on, goggle head. Let's go this way," Sora said, pulling Tai after her as she ran out from under the bleachers toward a small pine. When they got there, water was dripping off of both of them.

"Ouch! Sora, your grip is strong, you know that?"

"Yep. So, how do we get home in this storm? I can barely see…"

"That's my problem, actually," came a new voice. Sora and Tai looked around, inside the pine. A small light was emanating, and with it was a red-haired boy.

"Izzy! What are you doing here?"

"Get in under the tree…it's pretty dry." The two entered the tree, trying not to get caught in the brambles. Izzy was sitting inside, looking pretty drenched, his laptop on his lap.

"You got caught up in this storm too? I thought you went home when the clouds started to get darker" Tai asked, looking at him.

"Yeah, I had planned to, but then I found the leaf I was looking for as part of a science project, and I had to get it and then analyze it here and, well, here we all are. Why didn't you take my warning?" Izzy patted the dry ground, and Tai and Sora sat next to the redhead.

"We were going to. I tried to convince Tai to after I beat him for the fifth time at soccer, but he insisted on once more, and, well, it started raining in the middle of the match," Sora said, pulling her hands through her hair as she tried to dry off.

"Hey, I would have won that match if the mud hadn't made me slip!"

"So that's why you look like you're covered in dirt. Okay, I was just wondering," said Izzy, smiling slightly. "So, should we risk our cover and try to get to a better shelter?"

"Might as well. I might be able to get some of this dirt off of me before I get home."

"Yeah, let's go. It is starting to get chilly, anyway, and I don't want any of us to get sick."

Izzy looked at his laptop. "I've been trying to create a route for us to head to get to shelter with the least amount of getting wet. Unfortunately, since we're in the middle of a large park, I don't have Internet access, so I'm using a map I downloaded from a while ago…"

"Izzy, that map is from thirty years ago!"

"…I had a very limited choice selection, okay?"

"So, ahem, any good routes to get us out without getting electrocuted?"

"I think so. We go through pines like this until we reach the entrance, then make a run for it to the nearest store available."

"Which is…?"

"…the map is thirty years old. It has no idea. Neither do I, for that matter," Izzy said, frowning. "So, should we make a run for it?"

Tai and Sora looked at each other. "You lead the way," said Sora.

Izzy strapped up his laptop and put it in his backpack. "I can't have it wet. I don't think Tentomon would be able to save it if it drowned."

He led the way to the edge of the pine, squinting out at the pouring rain. He waited a few minutes, then made a dash for the next pine, about fifty feet away. Sora followed, then Tai. The cover of normal trees hadn't protected them. At all.

In this way they made it to the front of the park. Despite the fact that they kept on getting wetter and wetter, it wasn't as bad as it could be if they were actually walking in full front of the storm. "Okay. Now let's make a run for that store."

"What store? I can't see a thing through this storm!"

"…Tai, why don't you just use your goggles?"

"…be quiet." Tai pulled his goggles in front of his eyes. While his vision remained impaired, he could at least see without rain making him blink every few seconds. "That's better. Um, okay, that store. Over there. Yeah, let's run for it." With that, he took off. Izzy and Sora followed.

Only luck kept them from being run over by any cars. In Izzy's old map, there hadn't been a road. And, later, when Sora would ask Izzy why he didn't just remember the road being there in the first place, he would reply, "As strange as it may seem, I prefer using my electronics. Plus, I thought the roads would be closed due to flooding. It appears I was mistaken…"

Yeah, not the most prodigious excuse, as Tai would say. But it kept Izzy from being throttled. For that moment, at least.

Of course, this being a storm, as soon as they crossed the street the rain let up.

"Why! Why didn't you foresee this? Now I'm soaking!"

"My computer can only do so much! I had been stealing connection from a nearby building, but when the storm hit it broke the reception. I didn't know the storm would stop soon."

"Okay, Sora, stop trying to kill Izzy. We need our computer genius. And Izzy, stop trying to give excuses for your laptop. It can't do everything, okay? Now let's just get home and get dried off." With that, Tai waved goodbye and started the trek home. Things could have been worse. At least he wasn't hit by lightning.

Not that passersby seeing his hair could tell.

**Once I finish rushing this, the storm stopped! I hate when that happens! Anywho, I will upload for Haha once more today, and try to do more for my other stories as well. Review for one of the last times in 2010…!**


	50. Chain Reaction

**Okay, in the last five or so months, I've written 92, 413 uploaded words, not counting this. For me, that's amazing. So I want to thank everyone for their support and help as I strive to become a better author, and I hope I manage to continue this level of writing throughout 2011!**

How do these things start? Well, with a cough. That simple. A cough, and everything goes crazy.

It was all a certain redhead's fault. His cough, his fault. Enough said. Tentomon had been trying to recharge a computer battery by connecting to the outlet on the wall, and Izzy coughed. Right when Tentomon was trying to focus on sending a gentle surge up to the laptop sitting nearby.

Well, as happens when loud noises are present, that cough sparked everything. When Izzy coughed, Tentomon jumped slightly, and sent a charge of electricity through the outlet. A rather large charge of electricity.

The power outage that followed wasn't in anyone's best interest. As Izzy was trying to save a burnt battery, a certain little girl was walking through her bedroom, trying not to step on two monsters on the ground. The power outage caused by a certain redhead surged toward the Kamiya apartment, and Kari accidentally stepped down…but not on the floor. The 'oomph' of an orange dinosaur was enough to say who it was, and he let out a small fireball in reflex. Despite the fact that it didn't hit anyone, a certain little kitty grabbed Tai's face for protection, causing him to step on a different cat's tail. Poor Gatomon bounced up and out of the room.

She would return, but not until after a small run-in with a bicyclist carrying a large bag. She ran in front of him accidentally, making him throw a newspaper up in the air. Gatomon ran back to the apartment, but the damage was done. Well, as Gomamon later said, at least now Joe knew being a newspaper boy was not his calling. He had just been trying to take a paper to his father at the hospital. Now he would have to buy a new one. All because of a little cough.

The newspaper got swept up in the wind, flying forward through the night sky. No lights were on because of the black-out, so no one noticed it fly threw the streets, past buildings, and into the hands of an unsuspecting little blond, who was waiting with his mom outside the community center while she took a report about the New Year.

TK took the newspaper and, after realizing it contained nothing but boring politics that he didn't understand, started to fold it into a hat. Halfway through, he changed his mind, and folded it into a paper airplane; then, taking the small toy animal on his lap, the toy animal blew the airplane up into the night sky, watching it fly away into the darkness. Thus, Patamon and TK had their share of the event.

The next person in the escapade had a small role in the event, but hers was significant. She had been standing outside a shop, looking through racks while waiting for her mom to take her to the fireworks. A little pink carriage stood next to her. While she ruffled through the shirts and dresses, the paper airplane hit her. It wasn't a strong hit, but it was unsettling, and she accidentally fell over, taking a stand with her. Along with the stand came another, and another, and a pink carriage, which began rolling into the street.

While the car coming by stopped with time to spare, and Palmon jumped out of the carriage and hid under the racks of still-standing clothes, a traffic jam started as a pile of clothes also found their way into the street. Mimi found the paper airplane and threw it as hard as she could.

The bicyclist with Gomamon saw the traffic jam, and decided to take a different route with his new newspaper, one without so much wait time. Thus he took a route along a different way, through a different street.

The power outage also scared another girl who was trying to practice her knee kicks in time for the New Year. In the middle of kicking the ball, the power went out (it appears she lived farther away from the redhead than the Kamiyas did). And there went the ball, flying right into a bird that had been looking out the windowsill, waiting for the fireworks.

Biyomon, like Agumon, had a similar reaction to being hit. Her attack went out, not at full force, but it was still a strong wind, and it, of course, had to hit a certain blue-haired boy pedaling down the street. Ah, there went another newspaper.

The new newspaper in question flew down the street, along the skyline, as if hiding from danger, before it began its decline. This one found an open window…a lot of open windows out that night, huh? And in the middle of winter…anyhow, an open window where another blond was sitting. Okay, is there a reason for newspapers landing on top of blonds?

The power outage hadn't phased him; Matt had just continued playing his harmonica, Gabumon listening serenely. But an unknown wad of paper hitting his head disrupted him, causing him to stop playing and start hitting at the unknown wad. The wolf-like Digimon joined in, and, through a conjoined effort of the two, managed to whisk it out the window, where Gabumon shot his blue fire at it.

Luckily, since it was New Year's Eve, the ashes that fell appeared to be from fireworks. So began the celebration.

The attack also sent out a wave that hit a paper airplane, which started a small spiral down. It wasn't hurt, but the hot air it had ran into didn't allow it to fly as well, and it landed 'thunk' on a blue-haired bicyclist's head. He didn't fall that time; he grabbed the airplane, unfolded it, and pocketed it to take to his father's hospital.

What did that accomplish? Not much, I must admit. But, then again, maybe the strange blue firework that lit up the night sky gave Izzy just enough time to find a flashlight and fix the charge, giving Tentomon the time to fix the power outage. Thus, a chain reaction went full circle.

To think, that all began with a cough. And ended with fireworks.

**Um, I have a headache now. So, Happy New Year's! And yes, I have been planning this one since last week. I hope you enjoyed that, because I did. Now, I've got about eight hours until the New Year, so, well, best go and make cookies and such!**

**Oh, and review for the last time this year. I hope 2010 was a great year for all of you, since it was wonderful to me.**


	51. Ants, Window Panes, and a Clock

**Happy New Year! Might as well upload as the first one on New Year's, huh? 2011, let's see what you bring…!**

**I got this idea just now, so, well…Haha 51! Yippee! Okay, time for some good Tai and Matt. I love making those two argue…I know, I'm cruel. But I am author, so what can you all do? Well, you could review…hint hint?**

"This time is going by really slowly…how much longer?"

"Tai, this is your entire fault. You do know that."

"How is it my fault? You're the one who made me trip…"

"Because you decided to stop suddenly to stare at a bug!"

"It was a very interesting bug, you do realize that?

"It was a bug, Tai. A little bug."

"…yeah. Yeah, it was."

"Tai, it was an ant."

"Hey, it was the one stuck on that window pane…"

"And then you had to grab a magnifying glass, didn't you?"

"…you could have helped if you wanted to…"

"Listen, um, you should have realized the glass would work."

"…how was I to know that it was cloudy outside!"

"…the ant was on a window pane. Window being the key word…"

"…oh, yeah…"

"That's exactly it, Tai. You had to be illogical."

"Why didn't you stop me?"

"…I wanted to see you fail…?"

"Oh, all come and watch Tai fail to kill a little ant."

"The ant was already dead; you do realize that, right?"

"…be quiet, you."

"And where on Earth, or the Digiworld, were you hiding Agumon?"

"…my locker has gotten surprisingly bigger on the inside…?"

"Agumon dented it, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, but what can I do?"

"Um…good point."

"Exactly!"

"I didn't mean you were great at having good points, Tai. You still had Agumon throw a 'pepper breath' at the poor dead ant…"

"Matt, you were laughing as much as I was!"

"At least no one saw Agumon…"

"And now we're stuck here trying to come up with a good excuse as to why the window pane is all melted. So, any ideas?"

"…blame it on your hair?"

"How about on your hair gel? That stuff could melt glass easily…"

"Hey! Tai! Um, blame it on your goggles having lasers…?"

"We could just blame it on a three feet tall dinosaur currently residing in my locker…"

"Yeah, I think they'd believe the goggle lasers sooner than the truthful answer…"

"Good point. Ugh, if only this clock would go faster! We still have a few minutes before the vice principle comes…"

"And why do you want the VP to come?"

"Well, so I can get home and erase my parent's phone call before they hear it…"

"…hmm. Good point. I might take your lead…"

"See, Mattie, I have good ideas more than you know!"

"…don't call me Mattie."

"Sure thing, Mattie. Come on, clock, a little faster…that's it…that's it…"

"Tai, it isn't speeding up at all…"

"Shut up, Mattie. I can pretend it is!"

"Tai, if you didn't stare at the clock so much, time would go a lot faster."

"So now you're blaming me on the speed of time? How unfair is that?"

"I'm just saying that time appears faster if you don't stare it in the face…"

"Matt, stop being all logical. It isn't your forte."

"Oh, says the one who has no logic whatsoever…"

"So, what are you going to tell the VP, Matt?"

"…me? ME? You're the one who caused this all! I was solely in the wrong place at the wrong time…"

"And laughing while in the wrong place isn't going to help your argument. You know that, right?"

"This is all your fault!"

"Keep on telling yourself that, Matt. Hey, that rhymed!"

"I bet you do that all the time…"

"Oh, you shut up. So…"

"I guess we could just say that the vents overhead caused it…that would be logical…and say we were just passing by when we noticed it…um, explode…?"

"…that works for me…okay, here she comes, Matt. Look cool and natural."

"Yeah, Tai, just follow my lead. You'll need to."

"Hey!"

Believe it or not, Matt and Tai were excused for the window-pane incident. However, a detention for the fist-fight the vice principle walked in on still came to be.

**Why? I felt like it. There. Plus most of my chapters concerning Matt and Tai have them arguing/being partners in crime. I wanted to combine it. I'm evil, huh? Mwahaha!**

**Review, or I'll set an angry…um…Monzaemon after you! Okay, so that wouldn't really hurt…I know, I'll make toys chase you in Monzaemon's toy town! Oooh, the horror…yeah, just review, okay? We've already established that I lost my sanity…**


	52. Berets

**Hi, sorry, finals are coming, pep band started, I've been perfecting a clarinet solo, and I'm going to my first ever dance, which happens to be Turnabout, with one of my friends since childhood…actually, one of my favorite memories of him was when we and my siblings would watch Digimon. Coincidence?**

**Okay, Palmon and Mimi. See, I said I would finish these off…!**

"Mimi, this isn't fun."

"What do you mean? This is awesome! Now turn a bit…I need to hem this just a hair…"

"Mimi, you don't know how to sew."

"So? You do."

"…Mimi, why don't you get dressed up in a dress instead?"

She looked up from where she had been adjusting my skirt. "That's a great idea!" She ran off to her abnormally large closet and began shuffling around.

I sighed. Mimi wanted me to be more than just a baby when we went outside, and figured that I could pass as a little girl just like how Tentomon and Agumon wore sweatshirts and made their way through the streets.

Unfortunately, her plan wasn't working. It appears that green skin isn't entirely normal for most of humanity.

At times like these, it became horribly obvious that Digimon were the more advanced species. Even if we didn't have a growing monopoly of burger chains. Or individual names.

At first, we had tried on a dress with a short skirt, but my prickly skin couldn't be disguised as tights. My legs wouldn't fit into normal pants, so now we were trying a long dress and a poncho on top.

I say 'we'…I mean me. Mimi was just oohing and ahing at my modeling expertise.

"Here I am! What do you think? It almost matches!" Mimi stepped out of her closet, a long brown dress on. Brown could be her color with how it outlined her hair…any color could be Mimi's. My brown dress didn't fall nearly as elegantly…where she was the princess, I was the maid.

"It's beautiful," I said, truthfully. She came to me, and, with a tape measurer and washable marker, drew a few lines on my dress, where she would take it in and make it a little shorter so I didn't trip. I took it off, and looked for a hat that would cover my flower while she went to a sewing machine and tried her hands at hemming.

So many hats…where to begin? I might not like clothes or fashion like Mimi did, but being Mimi's partner made it hard not to appreciate it a bit. I tried on a few of the headwear. A flowered hat…not my color. A top hat…why did she even have that? It would clash with whatever anyone wore…I liked the beret, a deep, dark brown that made the rest of my skin appear lighter than it really was…yeah, all this time with Mimi was definitely a bad influence.

"Palmon, I've finished! Come on, come on, and try it out!"

I left the deep closet and Mimi pushed the brown dress over me, pulling it down. It fell to my feet, only a bit shorter than before. I put my beret back on and smoothed out the dress. Mimi ran to her closet to grab another hat for herself.

The hem that Mimi had made for me was unevenly sewn and at different lengths, but I ignored that fact. I looked in the mirror…a little girl appeared before me in a long brown plain dress and a beret. Not counting the fact that the little girl was green, and lacking normal facial features.

"Oh, Palmon, you look so cute!" Mimi came out with a tan flowery hat on. I sighed.

"I look like a green plant…like always."

"But I like you as a plant," Mimi said, sounding sad.

I was confused. "Then why are you making me this dress to wear?"

My partner laughed. "Easy. So we can leave the house and go outside without me having to push you in a carriage. It's getting heavy, you know."

I smiled. This was how it was being the partner of Mimi Tachikawa.

Of course, now we needed to test out my new outfit.

After all, if people could believe in a green baby in a bonnet and carriage, how hard would it be to overlook a little green girl in a beret?

**I would write about the trip shopping, but I'll save that for later. I might make a separate Haha on it…review if you want me to!**

**Oh, and is it just me, or is this January going by really slowly? Just wondering…**


	53. WakeUp Call

**Last, but certainly not least in this grouping of partner fics, is Joe and Gomamon! Seal time!**

Morning light touched my eyes, which opened slightly to see sunlight pouring in through the closed windows, under the cracks in the blinds. I yawned, wishing, once again, that my paws would reach my eyes so I could rub them.

Sometimes it was hard to be a seal. Not that I'd ever tell Joe that. And he thought he had problems: schoolwork, lessons, tests, making a salad. I couldn't even reach the door to get out of the room! I could always find a way to blow it up, but, well, I don't think he'd appreciate my antics.

I hated mornings. Mornings were when it got bright again; not that I minded the sun, but I hated getting up before noon. Sleepyness and bright lights just don't match together. Plus, mornings are when Joe goes to school, and I'm left home alone with an air conditioner and a stack of candy under the bed…it might be relaxing, but I'm no good at loading up the computer, so I might as well stay asleep…

Looking at the clock, I sighed. It was only 8:30. Joe would be at school, and I would be alone by myself…

A loud growl interrupted my thoughts. What was that? It sounded like an Ogremon, but I couldn't be sure. I lay still on the foot of Joe's bed, listening. Now I could hear a gentle breathing, like someone was asleep.

Ugh. What a great way to start the morning…facing a monster. Why on Earth does Joe complain about his hardships?

I started to turn, and stopped when the sound came again, a growling, almost a…snoring? That wasn't right. Did I really look that pathetic that I wasn't even a good foe? When I heard the snoring again, I waited for a few more moments, than turned all the way around, facing my attacker…

…and then hitting him on the leg. I would never get used to Joe's snores! He was asleep, his glasses on the nightstand, looking entirely out of it. He had been finishing up homework all night. Aw, poor Joe. At least he didn't wake up when I hit him…

Wait. It was now 8:34. About an hour after his middle school started…I started to panic. Did he honestly forget to turn on his alarm clock? No wonder I had gotten such a nice sleep…usually I jumped alert when that first sound of ringing came. But Joe was still asleep…not a good sign. He was late. Really late.

"Joe…Joe…get up," I said, trying to be quiet in case his parents' were still at home. He didn't listen to my command, I guess.

I tried again, a little louder. "Joe…Joe! School started already…! Come on!" He still snored on.

He wasn't this hard to wake up in the Digiworld! I guess that was because of the hard ground, but, still….come on, he freaked if he missed a few points on an extra credit assignment. And here he was, sleeping in!

"Joe! Joey! Jyou, Ja, Jim, Kido, Kid, Kit, Kite…Joe! Get up already!"

Apparently it was going to take more than yelling to wake my partner up from his little nap.

And, of course, as a seal, I would have to find something creative.

First I tried jumping on him. Let me say this—jumping on Joe is boring. No good spring, not nearly soft enough…okay, so I was comparing him to his bed, but, well, I had that liberty! My own comparison! He just rolled over, sighing a little bit. There went Plan A.

Plan B was more elaborate…it consisted of a few straws, a piece of string, the air conditioning vent, and a clever flipping of a switch. But apparently my contraption didn't work out as planned—I turned on the AC, collected some cold air inside the straws, made the cold air travel through the straws and down to Joe's back (clever maneuvering on my part), and then a string around the straws so I could make them blow up and down. Simple, huh?

What really happened was this: the AC turned on, started spouting out _hot air_ (okay, so it was winter…maybe I had yet to learn the difference between the AC and the heater? So what!), and then the hot air got out through vents where the straws connected, thus making my plan useless. The string part worked, but I think it was just giving Joe a massage.

Okay, okay, so that was a fail. Um, what else to do? I tried one last thing…

Another series of clever maneuvering on my part. I managed to turn on the computer (go me!), and, going on a video site, found the harshest metal song I could find. I then turned the speakers to full value, and, well…my hearing went out a bit after that, but it was pretty loud. I'm sure the Kido's are going to be getting a nasty complaint from the neighbor upstairs…

Of course, once the song ended, and my hearing came back, it was 9:01. And Joe was still fast asleep.

"Ugh! Joe, just get up! You are late for school!" I yelled in frustration.

And, to my great surprise, he sat upright. "What!" he yelled, looking at the clock. "Ah! Why didn't you get me up earlier?" He started to pull on clothes.

I just sighed in amusement. At least now I knew how to wake him up…and a half hour was wasted.

"Good ol' Joe."

Joe looked at his wall, a frown etching his face. "Uh…this is today, right?"

I nodded. "The one and only."

Joe turned to me. "Um, Gomamon," he said, looking relieved, "Today is a Saturday."

I laughed. "I know!"

He stared at me, annoyance starting to set in on his features. "You knew it was Saturday, and you still woke me up? Why?"

I laughed again—I should do the wake up call more often! "Because I wanted to find the best way to make you wake up. And pretending you were late for school gave me a reason to see you jump."

He grimaced. "Gomamon. I cannot believe you."

"Better believe it, buddy, because I'm here to stay!"

He cracked a smile. Good ol' Joe.

A ring on the doorbell alerted us. Joe, now fully clothed for nothing, went to see who it was. I sat on the bed, laughing. A few minutes later, he came back.

"…Gomamon?"

"Yep?"

"Why is the person that lives above us complaining about loud rock music blaring out of here about ten minutes ago?"

"Um…it's Saturday?" I played him the song.

He looked at me in disbelief. "I slept through that? Wow. Just…wow."

"Yeah, I thought the same thing.

**Why? My sister is currently taking a nap. And I needed a prompt…yeah, I just wanted to. Okay?**

**Review! I'm going to assume that most of you aren't reviewing as much because of school and finals and such, but I really do appreciate your reviews. Thanks for reading!**


	54. A Soccer Game

**Okay, everyone, repeat after me: Good job, crestoflight3!**

**You all say that? Good.**

**Why should you congratulate me? Well, I'm going to watch Digimon Tamers. I've watched up to episode 4 now. Not saying I'll like it or write about it, but, hey, I'm expanding my horizons. Be proud!**

**PS: That new Digivolution sequence really scares me…yeah.**

**Warning: I haven't been to a soccer game since elementary school, where I'd cheer on my best friend. Please don't get mad for my sincere lack of knowledge…**

"Okay, I choose Matt."

"You would. I choose…Izzy."

"Okay, then, Kari!"

"How did I know? Hmmm…Mimi!"

"Joe."

"TK…you're with us!"

Tai gathered with his team, Sora with hers. "We start play in five," Sora said, calling out to Tai. Tai nodded and headed off to his side of the field, Sora heading to the other side with hers.

"Okay, team," Tai said, gathering the other three into a circle, "we have to beat Sora's team…"

"Why?" asked Matt. "She's going to pulverize you anyway."

Tai glared at his friend. "Besides the point. Come on! Joe, you're goalie. Matt, defense; Kari, offense; I'll be midfielder."

"Why does Kari get to be offense? I don't want to be defense!"

"Okay, fine. Kari, you're defense. Matt's being a sore loser, so he gets to be offense. If we lose because of you…."

"Hey, don't blame me!" Matt held his hands up, smiling.

At the other side of the field, Sora had gathered her team into a little circle of their own. "We're going to take Tai down! No excuses! No mistakes! We're the superior team!"

TK glanced at Izzy. "I've never seen her like this…"

Izzy nodded. "I think this is something those athletes face all the time."

"All right then! Izzy, you'll be goalie. You have experience on Tai's team, so you're our inside man. Mimi, you can be offense. TK, defense. I'll be midfielder, so everyone do your best."

"I'm scared of being offense!" Mimi wailed.

"Okay, then. TK, you mind being offense?" TK shook his head. "Mimi, if we lose the game because of you…"

"We won't!" She smiled.

"Okay, time to get this started. Positions, everyone!" Sora shouted, liking this feeling of control. Izzy and Joe took opposite goalie posts, made from a collection of rocks. The group had been planning on playing at the local school, but they found a track meet going on, and decided not to intervene. The central park was the next best place.

Sora and Tai met in the middle of the field, glaring daggers at each other. Kari took the ball and placed it in the center between them and ran back to where she was guarding TK.

"Everyone ready?" Came a voice from the sidelines. The Digimon were going to watch, with Tentomon acting as referee and scorekeeper. "On your mark…get set…one second…wait for it, wait for it…GO!"

Sora and Tai both kicked for possession of the ball, Sora ultimately winning. She passed the ball to TK, who dribbled it toward the goalie box. Sora took it back and made a shot, but Joe caught it and threw it to Kari, who passed it to Tai.

Tai took it to Matt, who tried to make a shot. He ended up tripping on the ball, however, and Mimi passed it back to Sora. This next time around, Joe missed, and the score became 1-0.

Tai took the ball back to the center, and he gained possession this time around. Not passing to Matt, he ran across the field, outmaneuvering Mimi and Sora. His shot missed, however, and Mimi gained control of the ball. Matt stole it from her, and made his shot from the side; this time it went in. 1-1.

In this manner the game was played. A team would gain possession of the ball, only to have it stolen away a little while later. Only three of the children were on an actual soccer team: Tai, Sora, and Izzy. Matt and TK, however, were fast enough to stay in, Mimi was trying her best, Joe was being coached by Gomamon behind him, and Kari had years of practice with her brother to help her out. This wasn't a professional game, but it was better than a school gym class one; in this game, everyone was trying their best.

On the sidelines, Palmon and Biyomon were trying their hands—wings, claws, whatever they were—at cheerleading. Mimi had lent them some cheering poms, and they were flailing their arms—wings, claws, whatever they were—in the air, shouting encouragement at their partners' team. Patamon was beside them, throwing out a Boom Bubble every time either team scored; he didn't grasp the concept of winning a game yet.

Agumon and Gabumon were cheering for their team, trying to stack on top of each other so one of them could be the right height. Needless to say, it wasn't exactly working. Gatomon, on the other hand, was curled up under a tree, trying to sleep. _(AN, I think she has the right idea here…)_

"7-6, Sora's team…" Tentomon called out.

"The Flying Pigs!"

The ball stopped temporarily as everyone turned to TK. Even Gatomon lifted up her head.

TK shrugged. "We're the Flying Pigs…"

"I thought we were the Pink Cactuses!" Mimi shouted.

"No, we were the Reigning Data…" Izzy said, looking confused.

Sora sighed. "Okay, we're the Flying Pink Reigning…DataCactus Pigs! Happy?"

The three team members nodded their assent.

Kari turned to Tai. "We don't have a team name…"

Joe chimed in. "How about the Fantastic Four?"

"Uh, Joe, we're losing," Matt said. "How about the Teenage Wolves?"

"I'm not a teenager though," Kari said.

"Um, then…Winning Wolves?"

The others nodded their assent. "Winning Wolves it is," Tai said, "but why we had to choose names this far in the game, I don't understand…"

"Okay, um, are you going to continue the game? Flying Pink Reigning DataCactus Pigs winning, 7 to 6…" Tentomon chuckled.

The game presumed, TK guarding Kari, Mimi guarding Matt, and Sora and Tai running the length of the field. Joe and Izzy tried to block the balls the best they could, resulting in several hits to the head.

At 16-15, Flying Pink Reigning DataCactus Pigs still in the lead, the ball was down by Joe. When Sora tried to score, he caught it (a little seal telling him which direction to go) and threw it to Kari. She kicked it out to the other side of the field, far away from Sora and Tai. Matt got to it first and kicked it directly into the goalpost, bypassing Izzy.

"16-16, tie between FPRDCP and Winning Wolves!" Tentomon shouted. Palmon and Biyomon had perfected a cheer: "Go, go Sora! Go, go Mimi! We know you can do it, cuz you're on the same teamie!" Patamon blew his Boom Bubble in the air in excitement, Agumon and Gabumon had given up getting on top of each other and now were doing a small victory dance, and Gatomon was, well, asleep.

Sora threw the ball up in frustration and kicked it to the sidelines. On top of the sleeping cat.

"Ah!" Gatomon woke up instantly, throwing her paws in front of her face.

"…well, that's one way to end a game…" Joe commented as the players went to see what remained of their ball. Gatomon's claws had pierced the soccer ball, flattening it immediately.

"Gatomon, that was my ball! I bought it with my own money!" Tai screamed at the kitty, who flung herself into Kari's waiting arms.

"Get a new one then. One that won't attack me, preferably," she said, yawning, prepared to begin a new nap on top of Kari, who smiled.

The others giggled. "Well, I guess it was a tie," Izzy said, looking at Tentomon. He nodded.

"Oh, well," Sora said. "We'll do this again next week." Matt and Mimi stared at her in disbelief.

"Again! But…" Mimi sighed. Everyone started to gather the belongings and get ready to leave.

"Tai, I'm sorry you couldn't complete the game," Agumon said, looking at his partner.

"That's okay, buddy. It was fun while it lasted. However…" Tai scratched his chin, a sure sign that a bad idea was coming. "Dedigivolve to Koromon."

Agumon looked confused. "Why?"

"Well, Koromon is like a little pink soccer ball with floppy ears…"

"Tai, I'm not going to act like a soccer ball! I don't want to get kicked around."

"…hey, it was worth a try. Let's go home, buddy."

The Destined and Digimon left the park, and the score remained 16-16.

**Sorry if I completely butchered soccer! How did I do? It was actually a lot of fun to write…**

**Anyway, I'm not planning on uploading a bunch next week. Turnabout, pep band, finals…yeah. Just to warn you. So review in the meantime, and I'll upload for all my other stories…!**


	55. Tag, You're It!

**Okay, a few more reviews? Please? I know a bunch of people read this…see, you're one of them! And I would never get mad at those who stick with my story…those that read and, especially, review a bunch are why I'm writing. But I would love a few more new reviewers…I want to know who I'm writing for!**

_Okay, this takes place sometime during the Dark Master plotline…probably directly after MetalSeadramon…or is it MegaSeadramon? I can never remember…care to comment?_

"Tag, you're it!" TK laughed and started running, Kari chasing after him. Sora, Tai, and Matt went running in opposite directions.

Joe sighed. This was so like them. Mimi was trying to dry her hair out; more so, trying to get the fish smell out, which she claimed was impossible. Joe had accidentally agreed, so now she wasn't talking to him.

Oh, well. At least Izzy was being normal, on his computer and all…Joe looked over his shoulder, and his mouth opened wide. The laptop was there, but no Izzy. He looked around, and, if possible, his mouth opened wider.

Izzy had joined the other five in their game of tag.

"You're it!"

"Not fair! I just started!"

"Hey, no tag backs," Tai said, laughing as Kari ducked out of Izzy's way. The redhead just laughed and went after the leader instead.

The Digimon were watching this turn of events. "What are they doing?" Patamon asked, sounding curious.

Palmon answered. "They're playing a game. I think. Only Mimi and Joe don't want to."

Joe opened his mouth and closed it again, deciding to let that one slide.

"But what are they playing?" Tentomon asked, hovering slightly.

"It's called tag," came Gatomon. "A human game, one player gets called 'it' and chases the others, trying to touch them. That's how they trade off turns."

"Can we play?" Biyomon looked to Mimi, saw her still trying to dry out her hair, then turned to Joe.

The Digimon surrounded Joe, who couldn't help thinking that this was unnatural. "Um…sure?" He answered in a question. All the Digimon went to join the game but Gomamon, who wouldn't be able to keep up.

"Joe, why aren't you playing?"

"Because they shouldn't be playing. We have a mission, to save the Digiworld, and they're playing a kid game!"

"But you're a kid," Gomamon said, his voice full of accusation.

"Well, yeah, but…I'm the oldest. I should have to keep a steady mind, not be distracted. I'm not too good at that."

"Maybe you should play too! This is fun!" Patamon buzzed by, followed by Izzy, who still hadn't managed to tag anyone yet. He stopped, panting in front of Joe.

"Want to play?"

"We need to get moving…why aren't you on your computer?" Joe asked.

Izzy shrugged. "Gennai hasn't messaged us at all, and I doubt he will until the Dark Masters are defeated. We need a break…after all, we just defeated a Mega, no easy feat. And you should play because I need someone to tag, and I think I'd be able to get you at least."

Joe looked at him, his mouth agape. Again. "But, shouldn't we be going after Puppetmon, or finding Machinedramon, or something? Before any other Digimon die?"

Tai came up, followed by Matt. "Joe, that's what we're going to do. But we've barely been here for any time, and we've already gotten attacked a few times…we need a break. And since it's midday, a game will make us all feel better. Care to play?"

It was times like these that made Joe remember why they elected Tai as their leader. Joe smiled. "Sure…"

As soon as those words were out of his mouth, Izzy hit him in the arm, running away shouting, "Tag! Joe, you're it now!"

Joe looked at Tai. "You had that planned, didn't you?"

Tai shrugged, and Matt started running to get back in the game, joining the crowd of running children and Digimon. Sometime during out small talk, Mimi had joined in, and she was trying to hold onto her hat as she tried to figure out who was it. "Izzy couldn't catch any of us, so I decided to give him an easy target."

Joe grinned back. "Makes sense…tag!" He touched Tai on the leg, jumped up, and ran away, screaming, "You're it! And no tag-backs!"

Tai stared for a minute, looked at Gomamon, and said, "No chance you'd like to join in quickly?"

Gomamon shook his head. "Nope. This is too much fun as plain entertainment; I don't want to spoil it."

Tai sighed and ran to the others, grinning as he made for Tentomon. "You're it!"

**Why? I wanted something lighthearted to write about, and this seemed to be it. I know, more friendship-y than funny, but, well, that's the consequences of being nostalgic.**

**Review! Or I'll make sure Gomamon gets in the game and tags you!**


	56. Tutoring

**Why? You know the answer. I felt like it.**

**Oh, and note: I neither support nor hate pairings in this story…for my ideas of pairings, go to my profile. This, therefore, is not a Mimato…this is Mimi and Matt funness. Which is a word.**

What had possessed me to help Mimi with her homework? I should have left it for the professionals—Izzy or Joe, or even Sora for that matter. But the others had been busy, and she wanted help, and I was…well, not busy.

I should have fabricated a story—shopping with my dad, watching TK, stuff like that. Then she would have said that she wanted to go shopping with us, or for me to bring TK along…I just know she would have disregarded any excuse and found a way to make me suffer. At least this way it wasn't too painful…

"Mimi, how much further?" I asked, moving her bag to my other shoulder. I, being the gentleman I am, had offered to carry her bag, not knowing that her bag weighed a few bricks. Really, I had no idea how she did it.

"Next building. Then up a few flights of stairs and, voila! We'll be in my apartment!" She smiled at me. "Thanks for this, Matt. I really appreciate it!"

I forced a smile, my instincts telling me to run. No. I would see this through…or it would see me through…one way or another, it was going to be finished.

We transcended up her building, and I was breathless from the flight of stairs carrying two book bags. There had to be an elevator here…

"Here we are!" Mimi took her bag back for a moment to grab the key, and then gave it back to me. Putting the key in the lock, she tugged a few times, finally opening the door to her apartment building.

It was like any other apartment building. Sure, a few things were nicer and more expensive looking, but I had been expecting something crazy. I was momentarily relieved to find her to live in a semi-normal home.

"Put the bags over there. I'll grab us a snack, and then we can begin!" Mimi went to what I assumed was her kitchen; I lay down the bags and followed her. It wasn't bad…her parents obviously didn't cook a bunch, because the layout appeared mostly for show, but it would work as a kitchen…Mimi was opening the fridge, getting out a bag of cut-up apples and some squares of cheese. "I would get some chips, but Mother says I should offer the nicer snacks, so, well, healthy food it is!"

Wow. Mimi liked things other than hamburgers. Amazing.

She grabbed a few pieces of blank paper from a drawer, then grabbed her backpack and went down a small hallway, to what I could only assume would be her bedroom. Sure enough, when I followed her in with my backpack, I met what I had been expecting in the first place—frilly pink pillows, a pink wall, canopied bed, little toy animals…Mimi style. I had to grin when I saw Palmon tucked away in a toy crib, asleep.

At the back of the room was a desk, covered with drawing material. She pushed those aside and pulled up another plush chair, motioning for me to sit down. I sat.

And so began out study session. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. A lot of her questions were from her not noticing a trick here, or a change there. She caught on pretty fast, a fact I was glad to notice. All in all, not as painful as I thought it would be.

Then again, a few times it was all I could do not to take her plush pink pillow and hit my head with it. Mimi was smart; no doubt about that, but she had a way of taking things out of context, making it impossible to get through to her until you realize where she messed up.

And then she got into a tirade about why pink pens should be used in place of pencils—I let her drone on for a bit there. Then came the confusion on why a sphere and a circle were different, and why she couldn't just call it a 'roundie;' apparently she disagreed with modern notions on art since no artist used pink or had any fashion sense—I let her drone on a bit there too.

But, all in all, after about an hour and a half, everything was moving smoothly.

Of course, Mimi Tachikawa had to prove me wrong as soon as I thought that, didn't she?

Palmon had just woken up from her slumber, and was taking the disregarded art supplies and drawing what looked like a cross between a stick figure and an airplane…someday a Digidestined/Digimon will get drawing talent, but today wasn't the day. I had just showed Mimi had cross-multiplication worked, and she had just finished her last worksheet…I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Done!" She exclaimed, holding up her piece of paper with her work, showing off her flowery sprawling handwriting. "Anything else?"

I looked over the worksheet quickly. "Everything looks right. Good job!" She smiled at my congratulatory remark.

"Wanna play a game in the meantime? I mean, I don't have anything else to do, and with Palmon here I can't invite tons of friends over anymore…" She looked at me imploringly.

What was I supposed to do? Say no to that pout? Despite my antisocial habits from the past, that was, as I had said, a thing of the past. Plus, I didn't want to go home and get started on my homework yet…

So for the next hour, Mimi, Palmon, and I played a few hundred card games, getting a piece of cheese as a reward when someone won. Before I knew it, the time had all but flown by, and I was getting ready to head home.

"Well, bye, Mimi. I had fun," I said, standing in her doorway.

She smiled. "This was nice. You're a good tutor."

I looked at her, surprised. "I am?"

"Yep. Izzy gets too technical, and he tries to teach what the teacher had already taught…Joe is helpful, but halfway through each problem he starts again, certain he made a mistake. Tai _does _make mistakes, and wonders why he can't get the right answer, and Sora's always busy. You were nice, though—it actually made sense. So, study and tutoring session again same time next week? And next time I'll make sure we have chips." She closed the door in my face with a smile.

Exactly what had just happened? Had I just been coerced into study sessions with Mimi?

Later, when I asked Tai about it, he had just said that the chips made the tutoring almost worth carrying the book bag.

Great. Just great. Apparently I was just the latest person to be tricked into tutoring Mimi. Seeing as the others had made a run for it while they were still ahead.

Until next time…I guess this is what it means to be a good friend.

Somehow I feel like I got the wrong end of the bargain.

**Again, there are no couplings in this collection of chapters. Just random awkward moments…yeah. I think that was awkward enough…**

**Hope you enjoyed! Review, or I'll make you tutor Mimi! Not that any of you would mind, right?**


	57. Games pt 1

**Why? I felt like it.**

**Yes, this is random. I just thought of this idea two seconds ago, so I hope you enjoy. And reviews are mandatory for this…I think you'll understand why.

* * *

**

There are several reasons why Digimon should not help their partners play games of most sorts.

Sure, a few games were fine, but most…they only ended in tears.

Fore example, never let an Agumon play a video game. Specifically racing. He—okay, I think I've already explained that one.

* * *

Moving onward…Tag is one of the classics of children's games. But maybe not Digimon games…

"That's so unfair!"

"TK, you wanted to play tag, so we're playing tag!"

"Patamon, you can't just fly out of reach. There's only two of us playing, and I can't jump that high…"

"Your fault. I'm fine where I am…ouch! I don't think throwing your hat at me counts as tagging me…"

Or…

"Mimi, Biyomon, wait up, I can't run as fast as you can."

"Palmon, you have to tag us! Come on, you can do it…that wasn't fair!"

"But you wanted me to tag you…Mimi?"

"I didn't mean with your vine nail things! Palmon!"

"Sorry…um, you're it?"

* * *

Of course, Tag is a great game, but it can get tiring. Hide and Go Seek, on the other hand, is a very relaxing game…until Digimon play it.

"Five, four, three, two, one, zero! Ready or not, you must be caught!"

"But I don't want to be caught…"

"Patamon. Stay quiet and let me seek you!"

"Oh…Boom Bubble Peh!"

A stream of air burst by TK, to his right. "There you are…wait, that's my toy pig."

"Boom Bubble Peh!"

"Over there…wait, that's just my backpack…Patamon, stop!"

"Boom Bubble…wait, why? You told me to be elusive."

"No I didn't. I don't have that kind of vocabulary."

"Oh. Sorry. You can come and find me now…"

Or…

"One more left to find…Palmon, where are you?"

"Over here, Mimi!"

"Palmon, you aren't supposed to tell me where you are…wait, I can't see you…I just see flowers…"

"I'm right here!"

"But there's only flowers over there…ugh! No fair!"

"So do I win?"

* * *

Now, Tag and Go Seek are great games. Most children play them. And we've all seen what happens when the Digimon decide to play Marco Polo…but what about a really universal game, something even older than those? Well, it might not be older, but it is a pretty common game during recess or in backyards…

Yes, I'm talking about Cops and Robbers.

"Okay. Mimi and Patamon will be the Cops, and Palmon and I will be the robbers."

"Wait, why am I a Cop? I don't want to wear that uniform!"

"Easy. Because Palmon could use her vines to steal stuff easily, and I'm small enough to sneak in things. Therefore we're the robbers. Ready…set…go!"

"Patamon, your wind is keeping me from moving…no fair!"

"Ow, Palmon, let go of me! I'm supposed to be taking you to custody, not the other way around…"

"Mimi, let me go!"

"No! You are going to jail, whether you like it or not! I have a sheriff badge if you want me to be more in character…"

"Mimi, I don't think you need that."

"Hey, I've got the ball…"

"Patamon, you're a good guy! Not a robber…"

"But we're all good guys…we need to get a Virus here. Then we could really play Cops and Robbers…"

"Hmmm...I think we need Izzy's help with this..."

* * *

Conclusion: whether because of Digimon advantages or because of misunderstanding, Digimon would make very bad playmates.

Of course, a certain seal would be fun to cuddle…

* * *

**So, I'm thinking of randomly partnering other Destined to do similar game ideas…suggestions, please? Review with ideas, since I can only say a few games that I used to play with my sibs…honestly, if you want me to continue this idea, please review?**


	58. Shopping

**Thanks to positive feedback and ideas, I will continue my gaming series…who knows how long that'll be!**

**However, for the sake of keeping you interested and keeping me from going crazy, I'm going to upload a few other random chapters in between gaming installments. That should keep me busy…plus I need more time to brainstorm…

* * *

**

Izzy looked around the store, frowning at all of the people. "Matt, I really don't think this is such a good idea…"

"Come on, Iz. You need a new pair of headphones—this is the place! Trust me," the blonde said, leading the way into the music store. Izzy followed behind, looking around nervously.

The store was small and packed, shelves aligning all over full of the latest—and not so recent—CDs. Teenagers, adults, and children were standing in various places, checking for the music they wanted. A group of girls were staring intently at a new portable music device, appearing to be trying to figure out how much allowance money it would take to buy.

This wasn't Izzy's kind of store. He preferred the laidback atmosphere at an electronics outlet, even a game area—while quality mattered, convenience was important. On that hand, he should have just preordered a pair of headphones. That would have saved him all this fuss and a trip to the music department.

Matt was entirely comfortable in this setting. He led Izzy right down to a side wall, only slightly less crowded than the rest, and pointed out a few models of earphones. "Here. These are the best for quality sound."

"And you know this and are the expert…how?"

Matt grinned. "You're good at computers. I'm good at music. Just trust me, okay?"

Izzy nodded, not liking this place very much. "Okay," he said, frowning. "Which one should I buy?"

Matt looked at each brand thoughtfully. "This one is slightly less expensive, but it messes up the bass. This is comfortable, but mine broke after a few months use…here. This one." He handed Izzy a pair that looked identical to his old one, if not twice the price.

"What's so great about this one?" he asked, looking at it distastefully.

"I dunno. But you look like you want to be out of here, and this was the easiest for me to grab."

Izzy nodded before taking his purchase to the front desk. "I'd like to purchase-."

The clerk interrupted him. "Would you like a receipt with this?"

"Yes, please…"

"Would you be interested in buying a rewards card?"

"Um, I'm not that big into music stores…"

"How about a coupon for 10% off your next purchase?"

"Um…sure?"

"Would you like to purchase the newest CD of this really awesome band?"

"…can I just buy this CD?"

"Bag or no bag?"

"…Matt?"

Matt smiled and came to Izzy's rescue. "Bag, CD and receipt inside, music brochure included, that's all. Thanks." Izzy handed over the money in a daze, and then Matt rushed them out of the store.

"I'm guessing shopping isn't your thing, huh? You have to remain ahead, and remember that you're always right…you don't get out much, do you?" Matt smirked.

Izzy blushed. "Not really…I prefer Internet shopping. Less of a hastle…"

"To each his own, I guess. Have fun with that." Matt started walking away, leaving Izzy wondering what had just happened.

* * *

"And then he just came up, and was able to buy everything in like two seconds!"

Tentomon looked at the purchase, opening it with his claws/pincers and putting them on. "Really, Izzy, you need to get out more."

"Tentomon, I'm fine right where I am. I may not have Mimi's obsession or Matt's prowess at the art of buying items, but that's not a life lesson that I really need…"

"Yeah, it is."

"…I'm not going out there again!"

"You have to. Just wait until you get a girlfriend. Then you'll have to be used to lugging bags around and shopping. And spending money, of course."

"…you're doing nothing to help my mood," Izzy sighed, putting his head in his hands.

A loud crunch sounded; Izzy kept his head down.

"Please tell me that wasn't what I thought it was," he moaned.  
If he had looked up, he would have seen his partner, with antennae wilted down, holding two pieces of a wire. "Um. May need a new one…"

"That was why I went shopping in the first place! Not again…"

"Better call Matt…"

* * *

**Again, I will do more 'gaming' stories, but I wanted to write something entirely random.**

**Anyhow, I'm going to my favorite Chinese restaurant tomorrow…so excited! I know it isn't Japanese, but whenever we go there, my sibs and I have to crack anime jokes…mainly from Avatar. Just don't ask…**

**Review! I like shopping, just not for jeans…how about you? Any funny shopping experiences?**


	59. Games pt 2

**I'm sorry for the wait. I've been feeling crappy all day…not as bad as yesterday. I normally say I write more when I'm sick, but, truth is, all I did yesterday was sleep and read. I tried writing, and I must have started a million chapters, but I couldn't keep focus. So, oh well…hope you all enjoy this delayed post!

* * *

**

Now, I'm not sure about you, but I always enjoy playing a good game of Go Fish. I just don't think that the Digimon would enjoy it at the same degree we humans do…

"Agumon, got any fours?"

"Nope. Go Fish! Tai, got any strange-looking-men cards with a K at the top?"

"…you mean a king?"

"No! This isn't wearing any crowns…wait…"

"Maybe I should have discussed all of the cards with you…"

"Tai, do you have any strange-looking king cards with a K at the top?"

"…why do I even bother?"

Another idea…like you didn't all see this one coming…

"Joe, got any nines?"

"Go Fish…"

"Sure. Marching Fishes!"

"…I didn't mean to actually fish…"

"I know. I just wanted to send some of my famed fish at you."

"…okay. Moving onward…Gomamon, do you have any sixes?"

"Nope. Go fish. I want some trout, a bass or two, maybe a salmon to top it off…"

"…why do I even bother?"

* * *

What about a few party games to add to the mix? I can think of a few famed ones…well, I guess the most famed one is a Mexican tradition, hitting the piñata.

"Ugh, Joe, did you have to spin me so much?"

"I only spun you once…"

"No wonder! Okay, now where is that bat…ugh."

"That's it, put it in your mouth. Come on…a bit closer…ouch!"

"…I thought you meant closer to the piñata. Not to you. Sorry 'bout that."

"I'm fine. You just hit me in the stomach. Nothing I'm not used to."

"Good ol' Joe! Okay, let's try again…"

"To your right…your other right! Ah!"

"You know what? I think the main source of our problems is that I can't possibly reach that high to hit a stupid paper mache donkey. I say we just take the candy and say we played the game right."

"…I have to agree with you there…"

…or…

"One…two…three! There! Come on, Agumon, get us the candy…"

"It would help if I didn't have this cloth covering my eyes…"

"Sorry, but it's in the rules."

"I don't care much for these rules, Tai. I mean, work to get candy? How despicable!"

"Come on, hit it a little harder! Pretend you're Greymon…"

"Pepper Breath!"

"…why did you burn up all the candy!"

"You told me to pretend I'm Greymon…he would have just attacked it to begin with."

"Did I say pretend you're Greymon? I should have said pretend you're a little bunny…"

"…want any hot chocolate?"

* * *

I've never had the knack at Frisbee, but I know people who have…let me say this, I envy you! My dog envies your skills, too…I don't think Digimon would, though…

"Tai, why are we doing this again?"

"I need to practice my aim. And my soccer ball is too big to throw with one hand properly…ready?"

"Set…"

"Go!"

"…that went far! I'll get it…"

"Good job, Agumon! Ready, set, go!"

"I'll get it!"

"Thanks, buddy! Ready, set…go!"

"Pepper breath!"

"…is your answer to everything Pepper Breath? Do you just not want to play with me?"

"It was coming right at my head!"

"You could have ducked, or dodged, or…never mind. This melted plastic looks pretty cool. Okay, I think that's enough practice for one day…"

And, of course, the or…

"Okay. Three…two…one!"

"…someone going to go and get that?"

"Gomamon! Could you please attempt to help me out a little?"

"I'd rather not…okay, okay. Keep your glasses on, Joe."

*a few minutes later*

"You know what, Joe? I can't move that fast on four flippers on land. Wonder why. Hmmm…maybe I should Dedigivolve for this one…bouncing is pretty fast..."

"You know what? I give up. Let's just go to the beach or something."

"Now you're talking!"

* * *

Conclusion: Something should be done about a certain Dino's Pepper Breath. And we should just take turns cuddling the seal instead of recruiting him as a play mate.

* * *

**Yep. That was fun…I wish it wasn't winter so I could actually play a few of those games…hope you enjoyed! As always, I love to get ideas…I really will use them! Well, I say really, I mean maybe…a possibility…okay, just review before Gomamon sends some fishies at you…**


	60. Of Getting Tai Up

**Sorry about the delay. Been super busy, but things should calm down for a while now. For those of you who read my Chat story, KBC exists now as a forum and as a private Facebook group. Message me if you want to join, and check out the forum!**

**Oh, and I know I did a similar chapter for Joe and Gomamon, but I forgot about that one when I was writing this...so, yeah. Hope you enjoy, and hope it isn't too similar! Maybe this is why multi-chaptered stories are hard to make...  
**

"Tai?"

What was that irritating voice? I was trying to sleep!

"Tai, you should get up now. It's morning."

I groaned and turned over, pulling the pillow over my head.

"Tai, I'm a little hungry here, and Kari doesn't know where you saved the leftovers from dinner last night…"

Oh. It was Agumon. I groaned again and started to try to think of a way to use my hair to cover my ears.

"Tai, please?"

"Five more minutes!" I said, trying my best to ignore my partner.

I heard the patter of claws on the floor, and braced myself for what I knew would happen next. This happened almost every morning that I didn't have to go to school.

Sure enough, the room got brighter as the blinds were pulled back. I squinted, trying to keep my eyes closed.

"Good job, Agumon, at least you didn't tear the blinds like last week," I said before stuffing my face in my pillow.

"That wasn't my fault! A string got stuck on my claws…will you get up now?"

"Go away, Agumon. Let me spend one morning sleeping in, okay? Maybe you could give it a try…"

"But breakfast…"

"You know something? I think you only eat so much as a way to annoy me."

"…Tai…"

"Sorry, sorry. Just, give me another hour, okay?" I sighed as I heard his claws come closer, at the edge of my bed. A slight pressure to my right told me he had placed a claw on the blanket on top of me.

I braced myself for what I knew he would do next. Sure enough, a draft came at me as the blankets disappeared into my partners hands. I shivered slightly, and then reminded myself that at least he hadn't ripped the bedspread.

"No, Agumon," I moaned, curling up in the warmest part of my bed I could find. I should just superglue the blanket to the bed…not sure Mom would like that, but I sure would…

I heard my dinosaur partner leave the room. Before I could comfortably get back asleep, however, he came back in. "Agumon, please don't splash water on me today. It's too cold as it is for me to be wet."

I heard him put the glass that he had inevitably had. "How do you do that?"

"What? Know what you're going to do without having my eyes open? Agumon, you do the same thing every week!"

"…I switch up the order…"

I stifled a laugh. Laughter would wake me up more. Not that I wasn't already wide awake, but I might as well not give my friend the satisfaction of effectively awaking me.

"I could sing…"

"No! If you sing, I'll never give you breakfast…!"

"Meanie."

"Just a few more hours, okay? What time is it, anyway?"

"…9:14…"

"See? Way too early in the morning for me! I'm not a morning person, unlike the rest of my family…"

There was a pause for a moment, and then Agumon said, "Hmmm. That gives me an idea!"

I groaned. Me and my big mouth, giving the orange dinosaur ideas. I should get Matt to help me write a sad blues song about it…

A shrill whistling in my ear reminded me why I hated musicians. "Kari, stop!"

The whistling didn't stop. Why did she even have a whistle in the first place?

"Kari, please?"

Agumon answered for her. "Not until you get up."

"No! I will not succumb to your evil will!"

Kari stopped whistling briefly to catch her breath. "Then prepare for a headache, big brother."

"That is so not fair!"

The whistling started again. After a few minutes, as Kari took another big gasp of air, I debated tackling her, tying her and Agumon up and locking them far away from me, and getting the rest of the morning back for myself. As good as that idea sounded, I decided against it. Too much work to get up and all.

They gave up after a few more minutes. My ears were ringing, but I heard Kari, at least, leave the room out of breath.

"Tai—_?"_

"What? Agumon, I sort of have a ringing in my ear…now I know how Whamon felt that one time…"

"Tai, do you want us to resort to desperate measures?"

"…well, I'd rather you just leave me alone, but…"

Something soft and furry landing on top of me interrupted my train of thought. Hmmm…maybe they were giving me a blanket or something…at least, that's what I thought until I felt the little claws…my eyes opened as I leapt out of bed.

"Kari, did you have to throw Miko on top of me?"

Kari was standing in the doorway, trying to keep a grin from lighting her face. She was failing miserably. Agumon was just staring at me.

"Actually, Tai, Miko jumped on you without my prompting. Looks like she loves morning like you do…to sleep."

I glared at my sister. Then at my partner. Then at our cat.

Sometimes I think my entire family is against me. But the cat had already curled up, and unless I wanted a scratch, she wouldn't be moved…

"Okay, okay. Breakfast for the Digimon it is…"

**I love the Kamiyas! Best ever! So, review, thanks for reading, the whole jazz and all...next chapter should be a Games one…!**


	61. Blond Moments

**I've had this planned with animelover inf for so long…sorry, but the KBC has taken up a lot of my time…**

**Note: This is meant in no way whatsoever to tease or discriminate against blondes. I'm just taking a common joke and turning it into this chapter's theme. I mean no disrespect in any way, shape, or manner. I know that joke is stereotypical…that's what makes it so funny. So please understand that I'm not trying to be mean in this…!

* * *

**

"Come back here, Tai!"

"Nope! You got to catch me first!"

Matt made a grab at his best friend, but Tai laughed and dodged, jumping over his couch with ease. Matt went around to block Tai's escape.

"Come on. Give it back!"

"I don't have anything!"

Matt sighed. "Yes, you do. You stole my harmonica, and I want it back."

Tai just snickered. "Stupid blond. It's on the side table where you left it, Mattie."

Matt looked at the table, and, sure enough, his instrument was laying there, gleaming in the afternoon light. He opened his mouth, trying to come up with a good come back; after a few seconds with nothing coming to mind, however, he instead plopped on the Kamiya's couch and crossed his arms. "Blonds aren't stupid," he said, scowling at his friend.

Tai sat down next to him, stretching out. "Nope. Not any more stupid than the rest of us. But there isn't any good dumb brunette jokes out there, is there? And, anyway, at times you can be pretty dumb."

Matt glared at Tai. Tai smiled happily at Matt. After a few minutes of a staring contest, Matt said, "Says the talking hairball."

"Hey, I choose for my hair to look like this. No amount of gel can save your bird nest haircut, however," Tai said, running his fingers through his hair. "Come on, you once mistook a train for a Digimon."

"No. That was Koromon and Tsunomon. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah…they nearly got themselves run over, didn't they? Um…you wore a sleeveless shirt in the Digiworld! There!"

"…I think your arguments are getting weaker by the second. It was the middle of summer—how was I supposed to know to pack for snowstorms?" Matt said, noting his winter coat on a hook by the front door.

"Hmmm…you spent all the money and didn't get any food for Joe and Izzy…wait, that was Mimi…never mind. I give up. Was that honestly your first blond moment?"

"It was not a blond moment! It was a simple matter of me forgetting a basic procedure! Anyway, Tai, you have a lot of brunette moments…"

"No such thing. I guess I'm just better than you," Tai said, grinning widely and stretching his arms out. His left arm accidentally hit a potted plant, and he pulled his hand back, shaking it.

Matt scoffed. "Sure, no such thing as brunette moments. I find that hard to believe."

"Why, you…!" Before Tai could finish out his fake threat, however, a small white kitten entered the room.

"What are you two arguing about this time? Honestly…I was trying to take a cat nap!"

Tai glared at her. "You're always trying to take a cat nap…"

Gatomon just licked her gloved paw thoughtfully and said, "It's always the right time for a cat nap. Really, what were you talking about?"

"Well, Tai was accusing me of blond moments…"

"And Matt apparently has never really had one. I, however, am not blond, and have had a million," Tai said, slumping on his side of the couch.

Gatomon leapt up between the two boys. "Blond moments? Yeah, Myotismon had the worst…"

In the same instant, Matt and Tai were eyeing her curiously. "You gonna give us the bads on him anytime soon?" Tai said, an evil glint in his eye.

Gatomon licked her paw again, and used it to push some of her fur back. "Sure. Nothing better to do when Kari's out and Agumon's raiding the fridge…"

Tai quickly ran over to try to save the existing food from the omnivorous dinosaur. When he came back, he made to pet Gatomon. Her glare stopped him. "I'm not Miko, you know…"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, certain similarities…so, Myotismon and blond moments. Come on, spill!"

"Well," she said, starting to curl up, "at times, he would just act stupid. Forget who was in which dungeon, put Pagumons in the same cell, never a good idea. However, at times, he would make me want to hit myself.

"Remember his pack of cards? The ones that, if activated correctly on the table, would lead to other worlds, namely this one? He would misplace it sometimes. Usually it was just on the card stand where they were supposed to be, but he would go pretty insane when he forgot where he left them."

Matt laughed. "If only he could have lost them and not been able to get through. Oh, well…"

"Sometimes, he'd confuse night with day, and go outside before he should. He is a vampire, after all. He would be extremely irritable when he did that…"

"Oh, yeah. Vampires and sunlight don't go together, do they? Hey, Matt we should have grabbed some wooden crosses and chased him with that…it might have worked!" Tai said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I highly doubt that. What else, Gatomon?"

"Hmmm…forgetting the name of his attack at times, but that was probably from a long day…then again, that had been right after the card incident…might explain a few things…forgot the lock combination to his secret room once. Took us forever to try to guess it, when it was actually opened by just pulling the lever with force…"

Matt laughed. "Why didn't he have any of these when we saw him?"

Gatomon shrugged in response. "I dunno. I guess it was just disorienting being a vampire Digimon..."

Tai smirked. "Well, I guess everyone makes mistakes. We made tons…it's not surprising that the virus's would, too."

"Anything else?" Matt asked.

Gatomon just shrugged again. "Nothing that Tai hasn't done. Run into walls, tripped on flat surfaces, tripped up stairs…you know, the normal."

"I don't do anything like that!"

"Oh, yeah? What about last night?"

"…I was dizzy from playing video games, that's all. And that wall appeared out of nowhere!"

"Sure, sure. I'm going to take a nap. Wake me if the house is on fire, Matt. You can leave Tai, though," she said, and hopped off of the couch and back to Kari and Tai's room.

Matt and Tai looked at each other before starting to laugh. "We should have found garlic or something. I'm sure that would have worked on the vampire!" Tai said.

Matt nodded. "Thing is, though, at the time these mishaps wouldn't have seemed so funny. They would have seemed terrifying."

"Unfortunately, that's true. Now, I'm going to go and get some pop. Want any?" Tai asked, getting up.

Matt shook his head. "Nope." He heard Tai go to the kitchen and open the fridge…

"Agumon! What did I say about eating everything in sight?"

Matt grinned. "Blond moments, yeah right. Even if a sadistic vampire had them, I think that brunette moments is a more appropriate title…"

"Hey, I heard that! Ouch! Stupid drawer…"

Matt just shrugged.

* * *

**Yeah, I wrote this during the Superbowl. No offense, but I could care less. And again, blond moments, brunette moments, redhead moments…they're all the same. Blonds just have a joke reputation…**

**Special thanks to animelover inf for the ideas, support, and constant messaging/talking. She gives me my Myotismon ideas, so I expect more things like this will come…thanks!**

**Review. Tell me who won the Superbowl, since the only part I stopped to watch was the half-time show…yeah. Hope you enjoyed, and next chapter will be a Games…!**


	62. Moving Mountains

**Super sorry, but I've been busy with other stuff. Haven't written at all in the last few weeks. So I'll finish up Games next time. Right now, I want to write something random to get back on track…warning: I understand that Sora may appear OOC in this. I'm taking this part of her character from all those times when she and Mimi would side up with each other…she would change character during those, if slightly…!**

_Middle of Adventure 01, while on Server and before the face down with Etemon…_

"Joe, put that over there."

I stared. Mimi and Sora both sighed.

"Joe, come on, it isn't that hard. Just take that big rock and move it over there…"

I stared. Dumbly, I might add. Gulping, I turned to look at the rock and to look at where they wanted it. My mouth opened, then closed again, then opened. Again.

Sora crossed her arms, and she approached the rock. "Okay, Joe, I know you don't always understand normal speech, but you have to carry that rock up that hill. Okay? Come on, I'm sure you're stronger than you look…"

Gathering what little courage I could muster, I put my finger up. "You want me…to move that rock…up that hill…" here I pointed up to the top of the ravine where we were making camp, "for what reason?"

Mimi groaned. "Why are you asking questions? Just get it up there!"

"But…but…"

"No _ifs, ands, _or _buts_!" Sora said. The two girls walked off past me, my finger still in the air. I let out a groan. Me, take that big rock up the ravine? It was more like a boulder! More like a mountain! More like…

"Joe, why are you standing there pointing at the sky?"

It was TK. He was smiling and holding berries.

"Oh, no reason, 'sides that the girls of the group are usurping their elder's authority…" I muttered. TK stared at me blankly. "Just…forget it. Is Tai back from fishing yet?"

"Not yet, but Agumon came to get Matt to help him carry in the fish. Apparently that stream has tons!" He was smiling brightly. "I'm gonna go and help them! Want to come?"

I shook my head. "I'd love to, but I'm supposed to…well…Sora and Mimi assigned me with a task. I might as well get working…"

TK smiled. Wider. I didn't know how it was possible at this point. "What are you going to do?"

"Well," I said, rubbing my hands together, "I have to push this boulder up to our site."

The youngest member of our group went over to inspect the rock in question. "Looks more like a mountain to me," he said before starting to climb it. I quickly pulled him down.

"Climbing it isn't going to help me. Now, I've got to get to work. Time might have the ability to move mountains, but I'm pretty sure Mimi and Sora want this up there within the hour." I put him on the ground, then went to the boulder/big rock/mountain and started trying to push it. It was heavy, but it budged a bit after a bit of force, and with simple physics, it would take me…hmmm…ten hours to get it up there.

I groaned, and started pushing.

"Joe, where are you taking that?"

TK was hunched on the ground, watching me curiously. "I thought I told you. This has to get up there." I gestured up to the small trickle of smoke that we had made.

"But you're going the wrong way to get up there. The path is that way," he pointed behind me.

Never mind the ten hours. Maybe ten days was more accurate.

"Of course, of course, I was just trying to get a feel for the…um…ground," I said, ending lamely. TK smiled.

"Glad to help! I'm going to go and get the fish now!" With that, he was off.

I groaned and started pushing in the correct direction this time.

Ten minutes later, by my wristwatch, and I was three feet down the path. I was making headway. If slightly.

Who was I kidding? This was not working, not even slightly. I kicked at the boulder. And grimaced as I hopped up and down, hoping I hadn't broken one of my toes.

"Joe? What are you doing?"

I stopped hopping and looked up. Matt was standing there, looking at me inquisitively. I grimaced again. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

Matt crossed his arms. "So you weren't kicking boulders, then?"

"Nope. Why would I do that? I'm just trying to get this stupid rock up the hill. It's not a problem. More like a rock than a boulder. A pebble, actually…" I stopped myself. Blabbing wasn't going to get me anywhere.

"Want any help with that?"

I thought for a moment. "Don't you need to help gather food and wood and help make a small shelter?"

"Mimi and Sora are heating water right now. So long as it doesn't rain, we should be fine. Hmmm…you aren't going to push this all the way up there, are you?"

"No, no, of course not…wait, how else am I going to get it up there?"

Matt looked around. "I dunno. Something with physics and geometry, I think, but I'd have to get Izzy to know. Here, I'll be right back. Keep on, um, pushing and kicking in the meantime." He left up the path.

I sighed. I hoped Sora and Mimi had a good reason for this…!

A few minutes later, I saw Matt coming back, with Izzy, Tai, and TK tagging behind. Izzy looked around at my boulder before smiling slightly.

"Easy enough," he said, looking around at the wood surrounding us. "Matt, Tai, grab a few of those long pieces of wood. It's a good thing that Agumon left a few of his pieces that he cut down around. TK, collect as many of those small leafs as you can. Only the slightly wet ones." He went over to me, to inspect the situation. Nodding to himself, he waited for the three other boys to return with their items.

I just shuffled behind a tree, waiting. Izzy smirked at me. "The girls got to you, huh?" I nodded. "I'm just glad there's only two. Otherwise we might have a war on our hands…and they would win." He chuckled.

Matt, Tai, and TK returned, Matt and Tai with some flat logs, cut up from where Agumon and the others had gathered timber for the fire; TK had filled his cap with fresh green leaves. Izzy instructed Matt and Tai to place the logs side by side, and TK to cover them with the wet leaves. Then Matt and I lifted the boulder up and TK and Tai slid the logs under it.

"Now we have a straight path, and a leverage," Izzy explained. "We use the extra logs to create another path. It might be cumbersome, but we'll be able to get it up the ravine now."

So began our journey. Matt and Tai pushed the boulder, Izzy and I gathered the used logs and made the path, and TK grabbed leaves and sprinkled them over. It was a team effort if any I had ever seen. By the time we reached the top, we were all tired, a little sweaty—not that those were anything new in the Digiworld—and ready to curse whoever decided to make camp so high up.

The Digimon were resting in a pile by the fire, where Sora was using a stick to stir at a bowl of fish stew—the bowl had been there when we arrived, otherwise we would have found a more commodious sheltering area. Mimi was playing a game on Izzy's laptop. Both looked surprised to see us.

"Izzy, Tai? Matt? What are you guys doing? You've been gone for an hour!"

We glared at them. Well, all of us besides TK. He went to go and take over the game Mimi had left up on the laptop. Matt, Tai, and Izzy, after a moment, sat down next to the Digimon. Sora got up from the food and approached us, Mimi joining her. "Why do you all look so tired?"

I figured it was time I stepped up. "Your boulder's here. Now why did you have us bring it up?"

Mimi and Sora looked at each other hesitantly. "Um…"

"Tell me."

"Joe…did you honestly carry that thing all the way up here?"

"With everyone's help. So why does our campsite need another rock?"

Sora started giggling, and Mimi joined her. I felt my face flush for no reason.

"Joe…we wanted something to keep the sun out of our eyes…it's a little too late for that now…"

I felt my mouth open in surprise. "And you…you couldn't have just used a leaf?"

Sora walked up to me. "We thought you'd get one of the Digimon to help you. Even in Rookie form, they would have gotten it up in no time. Or you could have used a Champion form…"

I stared in shock. The Digimon. I felt Izzy and the others redden behind me.

"That would have made everything a little easier…"

At this, I heard a wobbling come toward me. Gomamon padded through the ground, grinning at me. "We were watching you the whole time!"

"What! You couldn't have lent a hand…paw…flipper!"

"Hey, I've heard that hard work builds moral fiber…" He ran away when I started chasing him. Some things in the Digiworld never change.

**That was long for my time away. Review please! I was thinking on how the humans would take a strange problem, and figured Izzy would come to the rescue. As always, no bashing intended. And sorry I write Joe a lot, but he's fun, and I can sort of relate to him the most!**


	63. Games pt 3

**Hectic weekend, but all for the better! So, enough with me not writing this. Games it is! (Yes, you are all allowed to scream at me. Or review and get mad. Or just review…)**

**Today we are joined by Kari and Gatomon, and Izzy and Tentomon. So next, and fortunately last, Games will be Matt, Gabumon, Biyomon, and Sora. I didn't intend for those two to be last, but I wanted to do my two favorite characters today…!

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**

As we all know, games are an enjoyable form of entertainment. Well, they can be. At certain times. At other times…

* * *

Now, I'm sure we've all been in a situation where nothing happens. Nothing to do. AKA, you're bored sick. I was like that just yesterday…besides the point. What do we, as humans, invent as a means to keep the boredom at bay? You'd be surprised…hint: Paper beats Rock…

"Okay. Rock, paper, scissors…shoot!"

"Why'd you say shoot, Kari?"

"I dunno. So that way we can land on our item at the same time?"

"Okay. Rock, paper, scissors…shoot!"

"I win!"

"…but you're only paper…"

"Paper beats rock…"

"…this game is rubbish. Okay, okay…rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

"I win! Rock beats scissors! Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

"I win!"

"…Gatomon, what even is that?"

"A hand gun."

"…"

"Kari, you keep saying shoot. So I figured that might as well stand for an item. And it beats all other items. There."

"…I now understand why Tai says playing games with Digimon is very nerve-wracking…"

"Wanna play again? I'm pretty sure I can win…"

Or, in a similar environment…

"Rock, paper, scissors…shoot!"

"I win. Paper covers rock."

"Rock, paper, scissors…shoot!"

"Now we both have paper."

"Rock, paper, scissors…shoot!"

"Ah, you cut my paper!"

"Okay, Tentomon, why are you only using paper?"

"…it's a little hard for me to use rock with my pincers. I guess I could give scissors a try…"

* * *

How about a game that, unfortunately, requires materials? A lot of materials. How about I 'clue' you in…yes, the pun is intended. For the next game is Clue.

"Okay, so we place all these materials across the board. Then we use these pieces…who do you want to play as?"

"Whoever owns a cat."

"…you can play as Mrs. White. I'll play as Miss Scarlett. Ready to begin?"

"Sure…"

_Thirty minutes later…_

"So, did Colonel Mustard use the spatula to kill whoever it was?"

"…a spatula isn't a choice. And you didn't give me the room it was in."

"Does it matter? How about whichever room has blood stains, and where they found the body…? That would make a bit of sense…"

Past cat logic, the other thing that may happen…

"So, I think that Colonel Mustard used the rope in the library."

"…but I thought it was Mrs. Peacock in the kitchen with the dagger…"

"Only one way to know for sure…"

"Okay, Tentomon, I'll check. Whoever's right wins."

…

"Izzy, honestly?"

"That's such a trivial detail! Why do I have to remember!"

"Izzy, messing up who killed who is fine. But forgetting to put the cards in so we have a mystery…"

"…I blame the directions…"

* * *

And, of course, a classic and highly cherished game that I'm sure would be more popular if the mat wasn't so difficult to fold. Twister, anyone?

"Left hand, red…uh, right hand, yellow…"

"Tai, hurry up. I want to win and take a nap."

"Gatomon, calm down. How are you supposed to win if Kari's twice your size? Anyway, right foot, green. Left foot, yellow. Left hand, green. Right hand, blue…Gatomon, I think that's cheating…"

"What's she doing…?"

"Hey, my tail will count as whatever I need it to, okay?"

"…this'll be a long game, then…"

…or…

"Okay, I programmed my computer to randomly list off coordinates for our appendages. It will begin in three…two…one…"

_Left foot, red._

_Right hand, green._

_Left foot, yellow._

_Left hand, blue._

_Right foot, green._

"Umf! I'm not cut out for this…Tentomon, how are you holding up so long?"

"…um, wings plus hovering comes in handy…?"

There we go. Life lesson: never play a game against a cat or a ladybug…

**So next Games will be the conclusion. I'm thinking of doing Battleship and two others…what two should I use? Any ideas, games you want to see played by a certain Digidestined? I might make random one shots about it…review! Thanks for reading! And, yes, I had to look up the characters in Clue and how the mat looked in Twister. I haven't played those games in so long…!**


	64. Delivering Mail

**Sorry about the uber long delay. Been busy…but I finally got ahead, for the first time this school year, so I'm feeling really good!**

**Oh, and while I use the dub names, I like to pretend that those are nicknames for the longer Japanese names.**

"Taichi, can you go and mail this letter for me, please?"

Tai looked up from his homework. "Um…can't Kari do it or something?"

"No. She's going to help me cook! Isn't that great? Now mail this letter, and we'll make a nice cherry cobbler!"

Tai frowned while his mother left his room and returned to the kitchen. "Agumon, you can come out now." The orange dinosaur appeared from under a pile of covers.

"Tai, one day she's going to sit on me, or ask why your bed is so lumpy," he said in his high voice, trying to pout at his partner. As he was a dinosaur, pouting wasn't really his forte.

Tai laughed before shoving his homework aside. "Okay, okay, I'll find a new hiding spot. Gatomon can at least fit in the closet…hmmm, maybe under the bed? Maybe I'll just make you Dedigivolve." Upon seeing his partner's worried expression, Tai laughed again. "Just kidding. I'll ask Joe for some help in hiding Digimon."

Agumon settled on the floor next to Tai, careful not to put his claws by his homework. "So, you going to mail that letter or not?"

The boy shrugged. "I need to finish this homework…I guess this is what I get for leaving everything until the last minute. I'll deliver it tomorrow on the way to school."

"Tai, I forgot to tell you, make sure you turn that in before six! It has to be in the mail soon or it won't arrive on time!" Mrs. Kamiya's voice came from the kitchen. Tai groaned.

"Of course. That would be the case. Hmmm…" He looked at his partner. His partner looked at him. He smiled. His partner smiled back. For a moment.

Then he realized that Tai's smile wasn't his friendly, slightly amused smile. It was the thoughtful smile. That smile was never a good sign.

"Tai…what are you planning?" Agumon asked, big eyes narrowing slightly. In response, Tai handed his friend the manila envelope. Agumon looked at the letter, confused.

His partner sighed. "Okay. So I'm going to do my homework like the good little boy I am." He ignored his partner's incredulous expression. "But I also have to mail this letter. So I'll do both."

Agumon looked at his friend in confusion, his head turning up. "I'm glad you'll manage your time. But why did you give me this, then?"

Tai rolled his eyes. "By _I'll_, I mean that _I_ will stay here and do homework, and _you_ will go and mail this. Unless you want to write this essay on plant growth. Only Palmon would find this interesting."

Agumon tried to pout again. "But I can't go outside. I've got to stay inside, like a good little Digimon." He ignored his partner's incredulous expression. "Your mom told you to deliver the letter, not me."

"She doesn't know you exist. So that doesn't count."

"Does too!"

"Does not!"

"Does too!"

"Boys, boys, what are you arguing about this time?" Gatomon appeared from the balcony. "Did Agumon eat all the chocolate again, Tai?"

"Hey, that was only one time!"

Tai scratched his head as Gatomon jumped on Kari's top bunk and looked at them. "Gatomon, where do you go all the time?"

"Away from here. Now, if I heard this argument correctly, which I daresay I did…you two are so loud…Tai needs to finish his homework and deliver a letter. Right?"

Both males nodded.

"Agumon, just wear a sweater and deliver it, then. I would, but I had a small run in with the florist earlier, and I don't want to have to go past that shop again," Gatomon said, curling up on the bed.

Digimon and partner stared at each other. Tai then ran to his closet, grabbed a dark grey hoodie, and pushed it over Agumon's head. A small tussle ensued, in which Tai managed to get the outfit on the unhappy Digimon and the Digimon managed to destroy the homework of the unhappy boy. Without another word, Tai shoved the letter into Agumon's hands…er, claws…and shoved him out the door.

Getting out of the apartment wasn't that difficult. Kari saw Agumon and nodded, and pretended to ask her mother about the properties of celery in the cobbler they were making; Agumon slipped out of the door as quietly as he could. He then ran down the stairs with luckily no human interaction.

Now came the street. His hood was up, but his snout still stuck out of it a ways. Agumon kept his head down; he'd have to find a way to get back at his partner tonight. Clutching the letter, he ran about halfway down the street, to the blue mailbox. He jumped a few times, trying to reach the mailbox top—despite the little box being about his height, his small arms couldn't reach the opening. This wasn't working.

"Here, honey, I'll open it," an elderly lady said, approaching the disguised dino and opening the mailbox. Agumon threw the letter in and ducked around. Too late, however.

"Nice costume. But it's the ides of March…not the time for a costume party, I imagine. Well, have a good day!" The woman left, and Agumon stared down the street in confusion.

Really, humans couldn't see anything. That was one of their faults. And one of his favorite parts. Agumon ran back inside the apartment, pretending his orange skin and snout were a costume. It worked for the most part. He reached the Kamiya's apartment, and made to open the door.

It was locked.

Just his luck.

Actually, he was quite lucky. Kari opened the door. "Dear, who's there?" Her mother called from the kitchen. Kari let the Digimon in, and stood in front of the hallway as he darted to the bedroom.

"Um…Miko?"

"Miko can ring the doorbell now? Wow, that cat's getting smart. Okay, honey, let's add the salt."

"Should we be using this much?"

"Well, I couldn't find the sugar, but I'm sure no one will notice the difference, what with the garlic."

Agumon shut the door behind him. Tai was laying on his bed, sketching something on his notepad.

"I thought you had homework!"

Tai looked up in surprise. "I do. But I got bored. I think I'm going to take a walk…kidding!" he said at his partner's menacing expression.

"Next time, you deliver the mail."

"Aw, come on, it wasn't that bad, was it?" Tai sat up.

"No, I just got help from an older lady," Agumon said, getting into Tai's bed again.

Tai scoffed. "Come on! You had it easy!"

Agumon was about to reply, but another voice interrupted him. "Um, Tai, we're done here. Mom wants you to be our official taste tester…"

Tai groaned. "Coming, Kari!" He shouted, then murmured, "See what I mean? I'm going to get food poisoning one of these days!"

He left the room. Agumon looked around. He still wanted to get back at his partner. But maybe he would wait until after Tai survived the current meal…Agumon smiled. Getting back at Tai was always fun.

**Sorry if I portrayed Mrs. Kamiya wrong, but I always see her as a bit scatterbrained…not a lot, but a bit. Anyway, I had been writing a story revolving around Patamon, but I couldn't think up anything good.**

**Sorry for the lack of updates. Been busy, like aforementioned. Don't worry, Spring Break is coming up, and you know what that means…sleeping in! Oh, and writing. I suppose.**

**Review! Suggest ideas! Since I'm out…yeah, hope you enjoyed! Feedback is always nice!  
**


	65. Boredom

**It's too nice outside for me not to write. Okay, let's all back away from my twisted logic…**

"So…"

"Yeah…"

The two just sat there, staring at the wall.

"So…"

"Um-hum…"

I walked over, lunch tray in my hand. They were still staring at the wall.

"So…"

"Yep…"

"Enough! What is up with you two?" I asked, sitting down between them. They stared at me.

"Um…"

"Nope…"

I groaned. Those two had no common sense whatsoever. "Tai, Matt, why are you saying sounds?"

They stared at me. I glared back.

Finally, Tai answered. "We're bored," he said, as if it was the most ordinary explanation he could make.

I rolled my eyes. "So?"

"Yeah…"

"Hmmm…"

"Stop doing that all ready!" I screamed, attracting the notice of a few other people in the lunch room. I ducked down, then glared at them again. The slightest of smiles was on each boy's face. "Why don't you find something to do? Besides stare at a wall all day and mumble incoherent sentences?"

Matt shrugged. "I dunno, Sora. Why not?"

"Because there's so many better things to do!" I said, taking a bite of my apple.

Tai and Matt shared a glance. "What else is there to do? It's lunch, we're in school…Izzy's taking a quiz, so he can't even bore us with his computer talk…" Tai said, pouting.

"And you're just trying to ruin our newest method of keeping boredom at bay," Matt finished. I rolled my eyes again.

"Honestly," I said, frowning at both of them, "a year ago, you wouldn't be caught dead hanging out together. Now, after the Digiworld, you personally hang out and are bored. Why?"

The two shrugged at me. Great. Now they were syncopated in their body motions. Never a good sign.

"You could read a book," I suggested. Both boys groaned.

"Come on," Tai said. "That would just put us to sleep."

"Play sports…"

"It's still winter," Matt reminded me.

"Um…discuss Digimon?"

"We were going to do that, but we got tired of kids asking what it was," Tai said. "There is literally nothing to do."

I sighed. "Why don't you eat lunch?"

Both boys looked at me like I was crazy.

"Oh, right," I said, smiling slightly. "You two devour your food as soon as you get it. Never mind."

"See our problem? Nothing to do!" Tai groaned.

I stared at the wall. "So…"

"Yeah…"

"Mmmm…"

"We could talk?" I suggested, smiling a sweet smile. For another time that lunch period, Tai and Matt looked at me as if I was crazy.

"Talk? With him? Why'd I want to do that?" Tai asked, motioning to Matt.

"What, Kamiya, don't think I'd have a good conversation?" Matt asked.

"I _know _that being bored is better than talking to you," Tai responded.

Their arguing grew louder and louder. "Great," I sighed to myself, and went back to my lunch. "Maybe they were better bored…"

**You all know I can't help a fun Matt and Tai fight with Sora trying to help. I know I abuse those two too much, but it's a lot of fun! And, remember, no pairings in this, whether it be Sorato, Taiora, or anything else.**

**Review! Thanks to the reviewers from yesterday! Come on, you don't want to be bored…or let me be bored…!**


	66. Pepperoni or War

**Sorry, the Error Type 2 got to me. But I looked up a way to get past it...now completely in awe at this awesome new power. If anyone wants to know, just message or review about it...more than willing to share that way.  
**

**Oh, and be afraid. You all knew this was going to happen. Look at the title…I think all this time outside has been affecting me somehow…

* * *

**

"…what is going on here?"

Sometimes it's best not to ask questions. Especially when you don't want to know the answer.

Of course, Izzy was never good at keeping his curiosity level down. It just wasn't in him.

Paper was everywhere in the small room. He ducked, his red hair just barely missing a ball of crinkled paper.

"…this cannot be eco-friendly," Joe said, as he ducked, tore a piece out of his notepad, and aimed it at TK. It hit off the young blonde's head, who in turn sent a rubber band flying at Tai.

Mimi and Sora were alternating between hitting Matt with a set of pillows from Izzy's bed and trying to type something on Izzy's computer. "Of course it isn't, Joe! This is war! We'll deal with the expenses later!" Mimi screeched, ducking as a wad of paper flew overhead, and went back to pounding Matt. The boy in question was just sitting on the bed, arms folded, seemingly unaffected by the ruckus.

Of course, appearances never held. For a moment, the blond sat there, enduring the pillows. Next second, he had grabbed a pillow from Sora and was throwing it toward Kari, who caught it and proceeded to hit Joe with it. The blue haired boy stared at her in shock for a moment.

"This is war," was her simple response. Joe nodded, trying to take the pillow away.

Izzy just stood there, mouth agape. They had been so…innocent just a few minutes ago. The Digimon were at Sora's house, playing around. The Digidestined decided to have a get together, at Izzy's house…his parents knew of this all, so it was fine with them.

They didn't know, however, that a war was going to break out in the middle of their son's room.

"Charge!" Tai screamed, running at TK with a pile of spitballs. The younger boy ducked and retaliated by throwing Izzy's rolling chair at the fearless leader. Tai went down with a 'Humph,' taking Joe and Sora with him.

"What in the world is going on?" Izzy asked again, this time a little louder. No one appeared to take notice of him. He had just gone to go and order a few pizzas…maybe leaving them alone was a bad idea. A bit late for that, though…

Mimi jumped on top of the pile that made up Tai, Joe, and Sora, looking pleasantly serene on the top. "Oh, hi, Izzy. TK, come here!" She made a grab at the younger boy, who moved toward his brother, hitting him with one of Tai's spitballs. Kari ran over, now aiming her pillow at TK.

Matt sighed, threw a plastic cup at Joe, then took Izzy's pencil case and started throwing pens at his younger brother, who speedily dodged them.

Tai shoved the pile off of him, getting up and dragging TK down. Kari was right. Whatever was happening here was the product of some sort of war…how it had gotten into Izzy's bedroom was yet to be discovered by the red head. He tried to walk in, but a piece of paper shooting past his head made him think twice about wading into the littered room.

Kari and Joe now sided up against Mimi and Matt, using pencils and pens as swords. Sora was at the computer, furiously typing away, until Tai pulled her away, throwing torn up paper in her face as if it were snow.

This was crazy. This was madness. _This was war._

More paper balls and pens went flying; even a potted plant. Joe caught that one and set it down gently, before grabbing a ruler and yelling a battle cry.

"What is going on in here!" Izzy screamed. The room grew silent as the various battles stopped.

"Uh…" Sora said, looking around.

"Good question," Matt commented, embarrassed.

Tai decided to try to explain. "Well, see, after you left to order the food, TK complained that he didn't want pepperoni. So Matt was going to go and tell you. Then Mimi stopped him—she wants pepperoni on the pizza—and they started arguing. Soon, well, we were all on sides, and arguing about pizza, the weather, my cat…"

Joe nodded. "I don't know who let loose the first paper ball," here he shot a glance at Kari, who was smiling smugly, "but pretty soon we had a battle on our hands. I tried to stop them…"

"No, you didn't!" Mimi said. "You joined right in after that tissue box nearly knocked your glasses off!"

"Yeah, but I was going to stop you," he said, sheepishly.

Izzy stared at the mess of supplies littering his floor. "…this all started because of pizza?"

TK cleared his throat. "Well, I didn't want pepperoni," he said, shrugging.

"…you know I ordered multiple pizzas? One of them is all cheese, another is meat-lovers…"

Mimi and TK looked at each other and shrugged. "Oh, well."

Izzy still couldn't grasp this. "You had a war…in my room…with my supplies…wait, why were you on my computer, Sora?"

She smiled. "I was creating a log. I thought that maybe, years from now, someone would stumble upon it and see the hardships we endured."

"…you do realize that you all are cleaning this up?"

They all looked away. Tai even had the nerve to say, "He started it," pointing at Matt.

Izzy cleared his throat. "This is war. I expect full retributions. Now, clean!" He pointed at the trash bin, waiting in the corner. In silent appraisal, the seven other kids went to work cleaning.

"Next time," Izzy said, sitting on his bed as he watched them clean, "if you have a war, at least invite me to join."

* * *

**I promise, this was done with no caffeine or chocolate. Corn, yes. But no sweets. Yeah, I'm taking over the world one day…our base is going to be in Canada. Nothing bad ever happens there…**

**Review! Or I'll throw a piece of paper at you…once I can get this computer to send things through it to your room…**


	67. If Looks Could Kill

**Where did I get this idea? Blame the KBC. Really, it's their entire fault. And they don't even know why…you already know not to question my logic. It'll get you no where. Anyway, I wanted to write something, duh, and then I got this idea from a phrase, and, well, decided to give it a try. Warning: I think I can safely say this is unlike any of the previous chapters' writing styles…I think it's more descriptive….maybe?**

* * *

_During a weekend, at the Ishida household in Odaiba._

Hiroaki Ishida sat alone at his dining room table, contemplating three plates he had set in front of him. He wasn't the best cook—Matt, his elder son, was the cook of the family—nor was he the most creative—his ex-wife, Nancy, or his younger won, TK, could easily win that award. Nevertheless, he was pleased with his attempt at chocolate-chip pancakes; despite a few lumps in the batter, and one or two clumps of chocolate chips in the center of each pancake, they didn't look half bad.

"Boys! Breakfast!" he called out, admiring his handiwork.

Ten minutes later, breakfast growing cold, and he was still admiring his handiwork alone. "Matt! TK! I made pancakes! With chocolate!" he said proudly, figuring that chocolate and pancakes in the same statement would get them running in for a helping.

However, no one came running to claim the delicacies. Hiroaki frowned for a moment, and, leaving the plates on the table, he walked down the hallway to Matt's room. Knocking on the shut door, he called out, only slightly softer than before, "Boys! Come on, it's getting cold!"

After a few more seconds of silence, Mr. Ishida sighed and knocked again. This time, the door opened at his touch. "Okay, what's going on in…here?"

Neither boy answered. Both kept post, staring at each other in absolute silence and resignation.

Both kept post, literally. Hiroaki could remember a time, when Matt was only six and TK two, when the older brother would lead the younger in building messy forts out of the blankets and beds, creating tents where both brothers would spend the night to the amusement of their parents. However, his sons weren't just toddlers anymore, and their newest fortresses were something to behold.

Mounds of pillows lined his younger son's fort, with a blanket over two chairs holding the tent up. TK himself was sitting below the blanket, not even bothering to wave at his father.

Matt had his bed to use, and had tucked a blanket between the bed and his desk, making his tent slightly bigger. The blanket was stretched taught—a collection of strings tied from bed post to desk leg helped support several balls on top of the blanket. Matt was lying on his stomach, equally staring at TK.

Hiroaki could almost swear that he would be able to hear a pin drop in this room.

"Boys…um, not that this isn't impressive, but what're you doing?" he asked, looking from son to son.

Without so much as a glance up, Matt grabbed a notepad, wrote something on a piece of paper, crumbled up the paper, and threw it to the door. Reaching down to grab it, Mr. Ishida looked uncertainly from boy to boy before reading the sprawled message.

_One-on-one battle. Silent contest along with staring contest, all normal rules apply. Loser has to clean up this room._

"Uh…okay then. Why did you create forts in the first place if you didn't want to clean up?" Hiroaki asked, confused. Being fatherly wasn't his strong point.

Matt threw his notepad at TK, who wrote something on it before making a paper airplane and throwing it at his father. All the while not breaking eye contact with Matt. Hiroaki opened the airplane to TK's untidy writing.

_Matt said that he was too old for forts. So I made him make one last night. Then we argued about the mess, and now we're battling each other!_

"…that's all?" Hiroaki interpreted the silence, despite being the same as before, to mean something along the lines of 'What more do you want?' "Why don't you form a truce?"

Both boys shrugged. Matt was the first to respond.

_Because we haven't found a way to make a truce without breaking the rules. We've been at this all night._

All night? That's it…those two had to get breakfast, clean up, and then go back to bed. "Why don't you both blink at the same time?"

Almost imperceptibly, both boys nodded. Hiroaki sighed. "I'll do a count off, then. On the count of three. One…two…three!"

Matt blinked.

TK didn't.

Matt groaned and glared at his younger brother. "You cheated!" he said, jumping up and tearing the blanket from its holding place.

TK yawned and smiled, blinking quickly. "We didn't shake on it. Doesn't count. You can clean up mine! I'm going to get pancakes!" Still yawning and blinking irregularly, TK skipped past Hiroaki to the kitchen. The father just stood in the doorway, watching Matt start to fold up blankets.

"…that was my fault, wasn't it?" he asked, smiling.

Matt nodded. "At least I learned a lesson: never trust a younger brother."

"…nice lesson."

* * *

**I wanted to write something with TK, then with Matt, and then I realized that I should mention other Digimon characters besides just the Digidestined and their partners…and I'm not going to explain this. The next chapter will be the final installment of Games, so we'll see what happens.**

**Review! Or I'll challenge you to a staring and silent contest! And I've never lost at either of those! Hey, did anyone else use to make forts out of blankets and tables and such?**


	68. Games pt 4

**I don't want to practice clarinet right now. Therefore I think I should write to make up for my laziness. Oh, yeah, I've got to write Games! Fun…not. Yeah, I've been procrastinating this. But might as well put it up. So, I just have, um…Sora and Matt and their partners. I didn't intend for those two to be the last, but, oh well…**

**Oh, and I had to pun Shakespeare. If you figure out what the quote was from, well, points to you!**

* * *

War games are highly popular in the world we live in. Battleship is no exception.

"E-2?"

"Brute?"

"…huh? I said E-2. Where'd you get Brute…oh, great. I knew I shouldn't have let you see my homework."

"Matt, it was fun. And, nope. K-9."

"…there isn't a 'K' to pick from…"

"Sorry, I had to say that."

"…of course you did. And here I thought you were one of the saner Digimon."

Or, in a different house…

"So, I have to sink your ships?"

"Yeah. Just follow my lead. A-1."

"…nope. A-1."

"No. C-7."

"…nope. C-7."

"Why are you repeating me?"

"You told me to follow your lead…"

"…I thought you weren't a parrot. Okay, um, F-6."

"Sora, I can't grip this white piece! This isn't working!"

"Okay, okay, Biyomon, don't get your tail-feathers all worked up…"

* * *

…moving onward. How about Water Balloons?

"So, I throw the ball, you catch it and throw it back. That simple. Ready? Catch!"

"Uf. Got it. Do I take a step back?"

"Yeah. Now throw it. Good throw, Gabumon!"

"Thanks Matt. I've got it, I've got it!"

"Good job, Gabu—you know what? Let's find a game that doesn't involve soft and breakable items."

"Any place I can put my coat so it dries soon?"

…or…

"Sora, this balloon is really hard to carry."

"Just throw it over here!"

"Okay…"

"…you do know how to throw, right?"

"My wings made it slip. Sorry. We could try a new balloon…"

* * *

Now, last, but certainly not least in this series of gaming, is a game that is almost a sport. Almost.

Chess. Yeah…

"Okay, so you remember what I told you about playing this, right?"

"I think so, Matt. Can you go first?"

"Sure."

"I'll move my piece like this…"

"That's not allowed."

"Why not?"

"That's a rook, not a knight. It can't do that."

"How about this?"

"A pawn can't go diagonal. Sorry."

"This?"

"…you know what? I think I have checkers around here somewhere…"

Last, but not least…

"Check!"

"Hmmm…here."

"Check!"

"…"

"Check!"

"Biyomon, that isn't a check. That isn't even close."

"…but it should be…oh, I see. I was looking at my own king…oops…"

"We need to find a better way to move the pieces without using your beak. It's changing the color of them."

"Hey, it's not my fault that all of your games are too small for my wings!"

* * *

Let it be known: Digimon now stands for 'Dangers In Gaming, In Monsters, Or Nanimono.

* * *

**Nanimono can mean 'something' in Japanese. So my new meaning for Digimon is Dangers in gaming, in monsters, or nothing. I know, that makes so much sense…not.**

**I didn't really like this chapter, but I'll be getting back to the usual stuff now. Oh, and for anyone interested, I have a poll on my profile about what category I should write next. I'm currently working on a crossover...between Digimon and Avatar the Last Airbender…yeah, I have free time.**

**Review! Or Dangers in Gaming, blah blah blah, will attack you!**


	69. Homework

**I felt like being Mimi today. So this is the life of a normal girl, no matter the age…**

* * *

"Mimi, remember to finish your homework!"

"Yes, Mother!" the young girl called, closing the door to her room. She flung her backpack over her chair, letting folders and books spill from it. She'd straighten it out later.

"Hi, Mimi! How was school?" came a little green plant. Cactus, really. With a cute pink flower like a hat, or hair… "Earth to Mimi…?"

Mimi shook herself. "Oh, hi, Palmon," she said in her light voice. "It was okay…a lot of homework."

"You should get started, then," the plant said, looking at the girl as if she were a sister. "We can play dress-up later."

Mimi sighed. "Sure. Just let me check my email first." She ran over to her desk and turned her computer on, waiting impatiently as the light flicked from red to yellow and, finally, to green. Pulling up the Internet, she typed out the address, having to correct several errors in typing. Finally, the site she was going to popped up.

Palmon squinted. "Mimi, that's not your email."

"Of course it's not, silly. I want to see if anyone commented on this photo of me!"

Within a few minutes, she clicked to go to a different site. Palmon dragged a stool up, her hands on her legs. "Mimi, that's not your email, either."

The young girl rolled her eyes. "I need to see if the next video is out! It's a matter of life or death, believe me!"

"If you say so…"

Mimi spent the next ten minutes watching a video, chuckling at some spots. When it finished, she sighed. "That wasn't funny enough."

"Then why'd you watch it?"

"Because I had to! Okay, now for the news…" She typed up a news browser.

Palmon looked at her friend in bewilderment. "Mimi, whatever happened to checking your mail and then doing homework?"

"Oh, I'll do that next. Ooh, gas prices went up again."

"Why would you care about gas?"

"I need to plan for the future! And whether I should get an eco-friendly car or a normal one…" She noticed her partner's glare. "…eco-friendly it is…"

"Mimi. Can you check your email now?" Palmon asked, taking off Mimi's pink hat and putting it on herself.

"Sure, let me just check this first…" she said, noticing her friend roll her eyes. "Just one more thing…" She smiled.

Palmon, on the other hand, grabbed the mouse and clicked the 'Exit' button. She jumped off the plush stool and grabbed a colorful folder that had fallen out of the backpack. "Homework?"

"Not yet! I need to…um…grab a snack first!" Mimi jumped up and ran to the kitchen, returning with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. Palmon took one and bit into it, the crumbs covering her face. Before she opened her mouth to speak, Mimi was running to her closet.

"And a change of clothes! I couldn't possibly think of doing such tiresome assignments in this outfit!" she exclaimed, changing out of her pink dress into a nearly identical pink dress. She grabbed her hat off of Palmon's head and put it on. "Now, I just need to paint my nails…"

"Shouldn't you get started on homework?" Palmon asked ten minutes later. Mimi was blowing on pink fingernails to get them to dry.

"But I wanted to do my toes…"

"It's still spring. You're not going to wear sandals anytime soon. Why waste the polish?"

"…you've got a point…okay, okay, I'll call Sora. _Then _I'll get started," she responded, grabbing a phone and dialing a number.

"Sora? Hey, how're you doing? Oh…yeah…yeah, I understand…okay. You want to talk later…? Okay…bye." She hung up and stared at the phone in disgust.

Palmon climbed onto her bed, jumping a little. "What'd she say?"

"That she had to do her homework first." Mimi put the phone down and crossed her arms. Palmon grabbed her and made her sit on the bed.

"Mimi, I know you don't want to do it, but you need to do your homework sometime. Might as well get it over with," she said, smiling.

Mimi moaned and laid down, putting her hands over her face. "But I don't want to! It's so dull, and I could be having fun!"

"You can have fun after you finish your homework. That sound good?"

Grudgingly, Mimi nodded, and accepted the folder being held out in front of her.

* * *

_An hour later…_

Mimi plopped on her bed, putting a pillow over her face. "I'm exhausted! I can't take much more of this!"

"Mimi, you didn't write down anything. You just stared at the same problem…"

"I wasn't talking about the homework! I was trying to figure out what to wear tomorrow! I'm out of ideas!"

Palmon pointed at the desk. "Mimi, back."

* * *

_An hour after that…_

"Finished!" the girl said, smiling as she tucked her hair back. Palmon smiled encouragingly.

"Really?"

"Yep! Can I go back on the Internet now?"

Palmon sighed. "Let's go outside and play, okay?"

"But I still haven't checked my email…"

* * *

**That was fun.**

**Review. Please? I don't want to have to beg…**


	70. At the Zoo

**Sorry for not updating sooner. As you may have noticed, FFN has been glitching a bit lately, and that's making it harder to upload as much…don't worry, I have more ideas. Going to find that notebook I used to use for this, and start flipping through it again…**

_Hmmm…sometime during summer, or a warm month…at the, get this, zoo! Yeah, because why else would this be titled as it is?_

* * *

A pink bulb, short tentacles coming out the bottom and a blue flower out the top of its head, squirmed in a redheaded girl's grasp. Sora grabbed the flower-like thing tighter. "Yokomon! Not here! Toy, remember?"

Yokomon stopped and looked up slightly. "Remember how well that worked last time?" she whispered, shuddering. "That baby was intent on ripping my hair out."

"That's not hair, that's…whatever it is that plants have. Why are you a plant in this form, and a bird in all your other forms?"

"…bad genetics?"

Sora giggled, and walked down a small tunnel under a highway that connected the parking lot to the place of interest. "Just act like a toy, okay?" Yokomon nodded imperceptibly, and tried to stiffen up into a rigid toy…plant.

A crowd carried Sora toward the entrance of the zoo. Buying a ticket to get in, she entered, stopping to look at a map. "So, what first, Biyo…Yokomon?" she asked in an undertone.

Yoko glared up at her. Sora caught her meaning. "Bird house it is. Time to see your, um, relations." She navigated her way around the smelly cages, approaching a large cage taller than most. "Welcome to the Bird House!"

Yokomon stared. A dozen birds stared back. She didn't know what they were all called—she was a Digibird, not a bird from Earth. She didn't know that there was so many different types…

She was pretty sure that, if she could understand what they were cawing to each other, she would hear, "Why is that girl carrying a toy plant bulb?" or "Why did that toy just blink?"

"So, happy to meet your relations?" Sora asked, smiling at the colorful birds on display. Yokomon shook her tentacle-like feet things, signaling that they could leave.

The next stop was the Monkey House. Children were gathered all around, making baby faces at the primates, who made baby faces back. Under her breath, Yokomon murmured at a large ape that was making a screeching howl, "Etemon, huh?" Sora suppressed a laugh.

Taking the two of them out of the crowded hallway, Sora looked around and whispered, "Leomon next, right?"

So they saw the lions.

"Whamon?"

So they saw the sea creatures.

"MetalSeadramon."

So they saw the eels.

"Scorpiomon?"

They saw the 'creepy-crawlies,' as a sign labeled them so the little kids could understand.

"Mammothmon."

Elephants, then lunch. Sora grabbed a burger with chips, and, finding a quiet area, ate, feeding a few pieces here and there to her toy flower. Only a few interruptions besieged her, including a mother asking where she had gotten a toy that could eat. She had responded as best she could. "Off the Internet…"

After both were semi-ful—Sora couldn't feed Yokomon too much for fear of her Digivolving…this was not the place for a random creature to appear—they continued on their journey of exploring the zoo.

"Gatomon."

They saw the sleeping cats.

"Garurumon."

They watched the sleek wolves.

"Ikkakumon."

They saw the walruses and sea lions. They didn't have an order for exploring. Whatever Digimon took their fancy, they ran to see the animal correspondent, crossing paths again and again.

"Gigadramon."

They squirmed as the snakes wove around.

"Monzaemon."

They smiled at the not-quite-as-cuddly bears.

"Piedmon," Yokomon said, taking a nibble out of Sora's ice cream cone. Sora frowned at her.

"This isn't a circus. There aren't clowns here…"

"Oh, well. We should go there next. Any ogres?"

"Sorry, no Ogremon here."

Yokomon frowned. "This world is dull."

Sora laughed. "Imagine if they tried to make a zoo in the Digiworld. Imagine how large it'd have to be…"

Finally, Sora decided the day was spent. She called her mother to pick her up, then started to walk back to the parking lot. Along the way, a young mother with a baby approached her.

"Excuse me, but that's a really cute doll you have there. Can Emily hold it? I forgot her toy bear at home…" the mother asked, sounding out of breath holding the kid that was squirming for the toy/Digimon.

Sora's eyes widened. "Uh…sure…" she said, handing the pink flower to the baby. Yokomon gave her partner a reproachful glare, which turned into a wide-eyed expression as the baby started to squeeze her.

* * *

Ten minutes later, as Sora carried Yokomon towards her mom's car, Yokomon whispered, "Sora. Please keep me away from babies, for my own sanity…"

The auburn-haired girl suppressed a grin. "When you screamed, it sounded like a howler monkey. I thought for sure we'd be caught."

"That's the good thing about the zoo. We're only two animals among many…but that baby was scarier than the python…its grip was probably tighter, too…"

* * *

**I've had this thought since I started, but never felt like attempting it. Anyhow, review, please! I want to go to the zoo again…did I miss any important animal? And don't say the hippo, okay?**

**Review! Or I'll make Yokomon scream…wait, how'd I do that? Um, I'll make her eat all your ice cream. You don't have ice cream? What kind of person are you?**


	71. Nine Years Old

**Today was an exceptionally good day. Really. Band is going to play Lord of the Dance for our next concert, I got first part for clarinet, and I did really well sight-reading it. So, ta-da! You get a chapter due to my good mood.**

* * *

_I don't know when, but right before midnight. And not a holiday, okay?_

* * *

_Ten._

That was all that was left, ten minutes. Ten more insignificant minutes, in the long scheme of things, but, to her, it felt like a lifetime. So soon. She smiled, and turned her pillow over, hearing Gatomon shift in her sleep.

Ten more minutes, and she'd be older. She was always older, she knew that—every passing second made her older and older. But, still, she would be a year older. A number was all that mattered in this place.

_Nine._

In the Digiworld, time had barely mattered past night and day. Seasons were nonexistent, according to her friends. Just different biomes, locations of different weather. It could be a desert in one area, and a snowstorm the next step you took, and it wouldn't matter.

She was about to be nine, in nine more minutes. Oh, the irony! She grimaced in impatience. She was normally patient, but, then again, she'd never stayed up to witness her grow older by a year…

_Eight._

That was a special number to Kari, her number. The Eighth Child, as the other Digidestined had labeled her when they didn't know who she was. She was the last member; she smiled at the thought.

Eight more minutes. The last eight minutes to be eight years old. For a fleeting second, she didn't want to let them go, wanted the minutes to stay forever…but then she stifled a giggle. One year didn't change much. She wouldn't even be in the double digits yet…

_Seven._

11:53. Maybe her clock was broken—it was going to slowly. It was a small clock that Tai had gotten for Christmas two years ago, to use as an alarm clock for waking up. After several tries, some loud beeps, and Tai snoring away, the alarm had been ignored, but the little digital time keeper was still useful.

Like now. The sky was dark, the slight sound of nighttime travelers on the streets below. Part of the city was always awake, a light was always on. But, with the blinds closed, Kari could pretend that the only light source was from the little digital numbers in front of her.

_Six._

Only six more minutes, only six more minutes, only six more minutes…how did people stay up this late? Kari yawned, then looked down. Good, Tai didn't hear her. Gatomon shifted at her feet, but only slightly. She didn't know why she was keeping staying up for this a secret, but she was.

_Five._

Five more minutes. This countdown was taking so long. She yawned again, rubbing at her eyes.

_Four._

Wait, where had that minute gone? Kari started to panic slightly, that panic that settles in when you're half asleep, when thinking is only at half best. Four more minutes. She would only be eight for four more minutes…

_Three._

Slowly, grimacing as her top bunk creaked slightly, she sat up, and leaned against the wall. Kari blinked, and pulled her brown hair out of her eyes. She didn't want to miss this. She always tried to stay up for the passing of another year of her life, but she never made it. She would this time…she pulled the covers around her as she stared at the clock.

A yelp filled the silent air around her.

_Two._

Kari glimpsed the clock change as she rushed forward, wincing. "Gatomon! You okay?"

Her partner looked up at her, tiredly. "'m fine," she muttered, curling up on the ground and making to fall asleep right there. Kari giggled at her, before leaning farther to look upon the bottom bunk. Tai was rubbing his eyes, yawning.

"'sup? Why's Gato on the ground?" he asked, trying to sit upright.

Kari blushed. "I accidentally knocked her off my bed."

After a few face stretches, Tai frowned up at her. "Since when do you toss and turn?"

The little girl half-smiled and straightened her nightdress. "Since it's two minutes away from my birthday."

Tai smirked. "That explains it."

_One._

Kari felt her heart beating, a little faster. It was absurd, anything happening when she turned nine. But, still, people always told her she looked taller, older, when her birthday came around. She wanted to feel the difference…

Her older brother was smirking at her, his hair even more random in appearance than usual. She frowned at him. "What's so funny?"

"You staring at the clock as if a fairy godmother is going to come out of it," he responded, and yawned again.

Kari giggled. "Not a fairy godmother. I just want to feel a year older when it comes."

He laughed, and leaned back, putting his arms under his head. "Nothing changes, year after year. It's a bit more subtle than that."

Oh. Of course it was. She had known that, but, still…more miraculous things had been known to happen…

Tai must have noticed her biting her lip in embarrassment, for he chuckled. "Who knows, you might feel different. Who am I to know?"

"Do you ever miss being younger?"

"Sometimes. Depends on the day. I bet I'll miss it a lot more as I get older…" Tai responded, raising his eyebrows. On his bunk, Agumon blinked a tired eye.

The orange dinosaur yawned and looked around. "Why are you two up at 12:01?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

Kari blinked, and leaned back up. The clock had changed by two minutes. She had missed seeing it change…

"I'm nine years old now," she whispered, looking around. Nothing felt different. She hadn't even noticed a difference.

Agumon yawned again. "I still don't get why you guys measure your life in years. The system seems so random to me…" He curled up again, falling asleep instantly.

Tai grinned up at his younger, bewildered sister. "Happy birthday, Kari," he said, turning on his side.

Kari grinned. "I'm nine years old."

* * *

**I know that a few of my chapters are more sentimental than funny, but I don't care. This just came out, and I'm not one to be judgmental on what I write. In my mind, Kari's the youngest of the Digidestined—I know that TK's the youngest, but I don't care. The girl is the youngest to me. Deal with it.**

**Anyway, I remember the age when every little year would seem so important, because, at that age, every year older was a big difference. Nostalgic, huh? Digimon is just plain nostalgia for me…**

**Review! Question, does anyone else try to think about when the Digidestined's birthdays would be?**


	72. Cats

**M&M's are a good source of inspiration, you know that? By the way, I don't own those delicious candies or Digimon…how long has it been since I posted a disclaimer? Anyone willing to go back and figure it out?**

* * *

"Come back here!" shouted Tai Kamiya, running out of his room in chase of a little whiskered cat. The cat was running as fast as it could, fast enough to evade capture.

Tai glared at it, where it had sat down on the top of a dresser in the living room. "You know that I'm more than willing on knocking this over to get to you?" he asked, contemplating how much trouble he'd be in if he did as he threatened.

The cat shot him a glare, and went back to licking its paws.

That did it—the rewards far outweighed the risks. Tai grinned, maniacally, and braced himself against the dresser.

"Tai, what are you doing?" came a sly voice from behind. Tai groaned, and looked over his shoulder at a small white figure in the doorway, scarcely higher than his knees.

"What does it look like I'm doing, fur ball? I'm getting payback!" he said, and started shoving on the dresser.

The white cat from the ground looked at him, her eyebrows raised. "I don't think Mrs. Kamiya would like her dishes smashed," she said dryly.

Tai rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't like what's on top of this dresser, so it's going to take one for the team."

The white cat looked around, jumping up on top of the couch to get a better vantage point. "What's on top of the dresser, dust?" she asked, squinting.

"No. It's the stupid cat," he said, and stopped pushing, his eyes still alight.

The white cat's purple ears went back, and she smirked. "Who're you calling stupid? There's nothing up there."

"I thought cats had good eyesight. Apparently not…wait…" Tai took a step back and looked up to the top of the wooden dresser.

Nothing was there.

The bushy-haired boy did a one-eighty and turned on the white cat. "Gatomon! You helped it escape! I should have known you'd side with it!"

Gatomon smirked. "You sound a little possessed, Tai. What'd Miko do this time?"

Tai crossed his arms and fell back against the wall, glaring at Gatomon. "What do you think? It ruined my new video game cover!"

"That was Agumon, remember?"

"It ate all my chocolate! I had been saving those!"

"Agumon again. Your memory is awful."

"It…it…it existed! There!" Tai yelled triumphantly.

Gatomon raised an eyebrow at him, and started to lick her gloved paws. "I think the only reason you two don't get along is because you don't want to."

"Why would I want to get along with a stupid cat!"

"Again, who're you calling stupid?" she asked, frowning at him.

Tai groaned. "Why can't we have a dog? Or a hamster? No, not my luck. No, we get two cats completely bent on driving me crazy!"

Gatomon smirked at him again, and stood up. "Tai, you're finally learning." She jumped down and started walking toward the children's bedroom.

"Wait! I need to interrogate you!" Tai yelled at the retreating cat. She turned and looked at him inquiringly.

"You have a question?" she asked, her blue eyes sizing him up. Tai gulped, then nodded.

"Uh, can you understand Miko?" he asked.

Gatomon rolled her eyes. "Why would I be able to understand a common animal? I'm not a real cat, you know."

"So you can't?"

"I never said that." Gatomon motioned for him to follow her. She led him to the bedroom, where the tabby was rolling around along a pile of dirty clothing. "What do you want to know?"

"Uh…" Tai bit his lip. "Why does she like to play with my socks?"

"Furball, answer the question," Gatomon commanded. Miko looked up temporarily before going back to rolling. "She said because they smell."

"Why doesn't she ever roll around in Kari's laundry?" Tai asked, scratching his back.

The white-and-orange cat looked up briefly, yawning.

"Because Kari doesn't leave her laundry out. She knows how to use drawers," Gatomon remarked back, yawning as well.

Tai frowned and looked around sheepishly. "Miko, why do you enjoy messing up my life?"

Miko looked at him briefly before jumping on his lower bunk and curling up in the center. Gatomon thought for a moment before speaking. "She says she doesn't mess up your life, she just makes it more interesting. It gives her something to do, and you something to worry about. At the end of the day, both of you are smiling, anyway, so no harm, no foul."

Tai stared agape at the real cat. "You got all that from one look?"

Gatomon chuckled and jumped on the bed as well, opting for sitting on the pillow. "No. You actually think I understand her? I just told the truth."

Tai glared at her. "And people wonder why I hate cats…"

Gatomon closed her eyes and curled up. "They just haven't met me yet."

* * *

**I wanted to write Gatomon, and Miko, and Tai had to get involved, and you don't care about my explanations, do you? I love Tai and Gatomon, but I can see them clashing in a family way…**

**Review! Cats are better than dogs! Even though I own a dog, and she highly disagrees…**


	73. Makeover: Tai Edition

**I need ideas…hint, hint. *glares at computer screen* Be glad you can't see me right now. My puppy-dog eyes always works. Always…okay, I might need to bring in my actual dog…that'll work for sure!**

**Oh, and I know, Tai chapters back to back, but I couldn't help myself. I really couldn't. You'll see why in a moment.**

* * *

This was all Kari's fault. If Tai ever got a hold of her, he'd…he didn't know what he'd do. But it wouldn't be pretty.

"Oh, Tai, stay still for a moment! We're almost done!" Mimi giggled, sharing a knowing glance with Sora. Matt sat in the background, barely able to reign in his laughter.

"Ishida, why are you laughing? You're next," Tai threatened, throwing a pencil at the blond. Matt dodged it and let out another chuckle.

Tai groaned, forcing himself not to look to his right, at the mirror. No, if he didn't acknowledge this, then nothing would ever come of it…nothing at all… "If any of you have a camera…I will break it. Be warned!" he said suddenly, looking everywhere except at the mirror. Sora chuckled.

"None of us is that low, Tai. Well, maybe Matt is, but he doesn't have one. You're safe as of now…" she said, pulling another rubber band.

This was torture. It didn't feel bad, but if anyone from school caught sight of this…Agumon sat in the corner, munching on a piece of chewing gum. Not surprisingly, every ten minutes he had to start a new piece to make up for the piece he had swallowed. "I dunno, Tai. You don't look bad," he said, gagging as another piece went down his throat. Gatomon hit him from behind before turning to Tai.

"Don't listen to him; he's trying to be nice. This is hilarious!" she said, winking evilly at him. If only Tai could figure out what that cat was afraid of…he'd have to get back at her, too.

Mimi left Sora to her own devices and went digging in her purse. Her hand stretched all the way in…Tai and Matt both frowned at it, wondering how it was that big. They came to the same conclusion: it was something only girls would ever understand. The workings of a purse.

"Got it!" the girl in pink exclaimed. In her hands was a multi-colored container…Tai felt his insides flip.

"Mimi, we did not agree to this! No way!" he said, growing frantic.

Mimi waved her hands at him as she set the container down on the table next to him and opened it, taking out a brush. "Nonsense. It'll look great with your hair."

"But Sora doesn't even use that, and she's a girl!" Tai said, squirming.

The red-head in question frowned at him. "It's not for Mimi's lack of trying that I refrain from it. Mimi," she called, "how does the hair look?"

Giving him an appraising glance, she smiled. "Perfect. Now, Matt, rouge or burgundy?"

Matt almost choked, he was laughing so hard. Gatomon stopped Agumon from choking again on the bubble gum. "Um…orange. That's his favorite color, right?"

Tai grimaced. He should never have let Matt come over today…

Taking a little brush and dusting it with orange powder, Mimi came forward. She was grinning widely, evilly. "Really, this wasn't part of the deal!" Tai said, wondering how far he'd be able to run if he made a break for it. But he couldn't go outside in this…no way. He was stuck to his house. Hmmm…maybe he could reach the bathroom and lock the door…until they broke it down.

Sora giggled at him. "Thinking of making a run for it?"

"As a matter of fact, yeah," Tai said, getting ready to run.

"You know, we could get Kari to pick any lock. Okay?" Sora said, putting a brush back inside her bag.

Tai groaned. This was all Kari's fault, for letting Sora and Mimi come over and then convincing Tai to let them 'dress him up.' She had to make it sound so innocent…and Tai couldn't refuse that look. Now she was in her room, waiting for the moment of unveiling to come. It would come too soon, in Tai's opinion.

Mimi took a look at him, frowning. Finally, she set down the brush, and smiled. Tai sighed; he had managed to escape that part of the torture.

"You know, I think he's done. No need to overdo it…" Mimi said, thoughtfully. Sora crossed her arms and nodded.

Tai blushed. He felt like he was on a display. Matt was barely able to control his laughter, taking a look at Tai and having to turn away, smiling broadly.

"I'll get Kari," he said, and left, to Tai's relief. Until Tai remembered that Kari had gotten a camera for her last birthday…oh, no…

_Flash! Flash! Flash!_

Blinking, the boy whose goggles were lying on the table in front of him tried to get the white spots out of his eyes. He could make out a little girl, smirking in front of him, camera poised for action. "Kari!" he screamed. "No!"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "But I want to remember this."

"Well, I don't. Now, no pictures, or I'll burn your camera." It was a mock threat, and Kari knew that. She took one more picture before putting the camera down.

"You look…um, nice," she said, both smiling and frowning at the same time. Tai didn't try to figure out how that worked. At that moment, Sora and Matt turned him to look at the mirror.

_Oh, oh, oh…_ That was all he could think. He felt like his mind had gone into overdrive. He could barely hear Gatomon snicker behind him, Mimi telling Kari about what they had done…_oh, no…_

His hair. What had they done to his hair?

It normally was long, and upright, a feat that no one really could explain. But Sora and Mimi had taken half a dozen hair ties and barrettes, and, with Mimi telling Sora what to do, had decorated his hair. There now were two pigtails on either side, along with a ponytail down the back…

The girls in question were giggling into their palms. Tai, still staring at the reflection, said, "My hair will go back to normal, right?"

"Of course. What, do you think it'll turn green or something?" Sora asked, smirking. Mimi's eyes widened at that idea, so Tai decided to butt in.

"Uh, just making sure. You can take it out now…"

But when he turned around, the girls were putting on their coats. "Where are you going?" he asked, jumping up.

"Home. It's getting late," Mimi said.

"But you can't leave me like this!"

Sora waved good bye. "You can take it out yourself. It isn't that hard." Both girls left the apartment.

Tai turned to Matt. "Help?" he asked, a desperate look in his eyes.

Matt snickered. "I'm not touching your head. Sorry, Kamiya."

In the end, it was Kari that helped take the ties out of Tai's hair. Matt had to hold her up so she could reach the top. Thirty minutes after she started, his hair was beginning to resemble its natural shape.

"Guys," Tai said, throwing himself on the couch, "never talk of this again."

He didn't notice Kari slide Matt a few of the printed pictures.

* * *

**I forgot that I started this one! Yes, my sister and I did this to my brother all the time. No pictures, I'm afraid, but it was fun…**

**Review! Please?**


	74. Basic Algebra

**Chocolate is very good inspiration. Just letting you know. Peeps are also very good…sorry, my Easter basket was filled with candy, and I'm using it all up!**

* * *

_After school one day...  
_

Seven pairs of eyes stared at the chocolate bar in front of them. Twelve pieces were imprinted in the brown sugary candy.

Seven pairs of eyes.

Twelve pieces of candy.

Yeah, this was a major problem.

Sora, Tai, Agumon, Mimi, Gomamon, Joe, and Patamon were watching the chocolate inside of Joe's family's apartment. Patamon had flown in randomly—he did that every now and then—while the others had come over to talk and get help with homework. Joe acted as tutor every now and then, since Izzy was a year younger than Sora and Tai.

And Sora, not expecting Patamon to drop in, had brought a chocolate bar for the four humans to share. Agumon and Gomamon wanted some, but it would have been divisible…two pieces per person.

But then Patamon flew in the window. And now they were two pieces too short.

"Uh, Sora, do you have an extra chocolate bar somewhere?" Gomamon asked, glaring at Patamon. The Digimon in question was looking at the chocolate innocently.

Sora sighed, half smirking, half frowning. "I only thought to bring the one. I guess one of us will have to not have any…"

Joe straightened his glasses. "Well, twelve isn't divisible by seven. We could have it so six of us have two pieces each, or we each have one piece, with five left over…or each of us humans could have two, and each Digimon could have one, with one left over, or…"

Tai groaned. "Enough math!"

"But you wanted me to help you with your math…"

The bushy haired boy rolled his eyes. "I am not putting math and chocolate together! That will only ruin the sugar!"

Agumon spoke up. "I don't think that math ruins sugar…"

"It's a psychological thing, okay, Agumon?" Tai said, staring at the chocolate.

Mimi was also staring at the chocolate as if it were a lifeline. "I say Patamon doesn't get any. We didn't invite him…sorry, Patamon," she said, pouting.

Again, the Digimon in question looked at her with a wide-eyed expression. "But…chocolate…" he said, looking from the candy bar to Mimi and back. Mimi looked at him for a moment before turning to Joe.

"Guinea pig gets some chocolate as well. He has the cutest puppy dog expression!" she exclaimed, petting him behind the ears.

Gomamon frowned. "But this isn't going to work. One of us has to give up our share of chocolate…" He looked around at the six other members, curiously.

Sora crossed her arms. "I wouldn't have brought it if I'd known it was going to cause this much trouble…I thought it'd help Tai with his sums…"

Tai smirked. "What's done is done. Now we just need to decide who won't have two pieces…"

The room fell silent. A minute passed, then another, and another. Nobody said anything, just gave sly glances to each other, waiting to see who would talk first. Sora was the first to speak.

"I won't have any chocolate. I've got some more at home, anyway," she said, smirking. Tai frowned at her.

"But you brought it! You should have some!" he exclaimed. "It's not fair otherwise!"

Agumon snickered. "Whatever we do, Tai, it won't be fair…" he said, sniffing the air as if he could smell the chocolate. He started to lean toward the table the bar was on.

Mimi pulled him back, hitting him lightly. "No, you don't. So me, Patamon, Sora…Tai, I guess, Agumon…Joe and Gomamon, nuke it out."

Joe straightened his glasses. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Fight it out. See who gets the pieces of chocolate," Mimi answered, her eyes not leaving the candy.

Gomamon frowned. "But this is our house! If anyone shouldn't get some, it's Agumon! He didn't have to come in the first place!"

"Hey!"

Joe stood up. "Look, why don't I just run down to the store? I can grab six more chocolate bars…that way we all have equal shares. That sound good?"

Upon hearing this, Sora shifted in her seat. "But that's not fair to you!"

Patamon whispered to Gomamon, "Chocolate is a bunch of trouble, but it's so good!"

A chomping noise made them all stop in their arguments.

Agumon was looking down, his eyes sad. But he hadn't done anything.

Mimi had grabbed the chocolate, opened it, and taken a big bite. She looked around, chocolate smeared on her face, at the six pale faces staring at her. "What? We weren't getting anywhere…and it was talking to me…begging me to eat it…bye!" With that, she ran out of the room and the apartment, only stopping to grab her bags and take another large bite.

Agumon, Patamon, and Gomamon, along with Tai, promptly chased after her. "Chocolate murderer!" Agumon screamed, ignoring the fact that he had been preparing to eat it as well.

Sora and Joe looked at each other before chasing after the Digimon. "You all can't be seen!" Joe shouted, trying to catch up with his seal. Gomamon was running surprisingly fast.

Sora just chuckled as she ran. "Well, that solved our problem…twelve divided by one is twelve…"

* * *

**Math nerd here. Just saying.**

**Okay, review, before I start quizzing you on cotangents! Be glad that none of them are in high school yet, or this would all be math talk, no chocolate! Where would the world be then?**


	75. Cat Tricks

**Everyone, this idea was submitted by Tache. You should look up the channel...Tache is going to submit his version of this event that he submitted. So, well, enjoy!**

* * *

"Please?"

A little girl looked over the book she was reading and shook her head briskly. "No."

"Please?" the boy said again, kneeling in front of her.

"No, Tai."

"Pretty please with sugar on top?" Tai pleaded once more.

Kari rolled her eyes and closed her book after marking her page. "Why do you want us to do this?"

"I need the money, duh. Come on, it'd be fun! Just give it a try!"

The girl bit her lip. "I don't think Gatomon will like this idea…"

"Well, I'm not putting in Miko! We need an actual cool cat, and Gatomon would fit perfectly in the 'Unusual Looks' category," Tai said, standing up. "Do we have to ask?"

"Yes!"

* * *

"No," Gatomon said, licking her arm.

Tai crossed his arms. "Come on. It'll be fun!"

Gatomon shook her head. "No. I bet you said the same thing to Kari to convince her to let you ask me." Behind her, Kari looked down and nodded.

Tai didn't let this comment get to him. "It's in one week. So long as you don't talk, we're all set!"

The white cat eyed a flyer on the bed. "'_Petters' Cat Show. Bring your sweet feline and show off her skill and beauty for cash money.' _I'm sorry, Tai, but that just sounds like a bad sitcom."

"But I already signed us up! And I don't want to bring Miko!"

"Yeah, Miko's still in a bad mood with you. You don't want to get another scratch, do you?" Gatomon purred.

"If you don't do it, I'll stop buying you those salmon treats! And you won't be the only animal there…the cat show is only one part of the pet show!" Tai said, trying to threaten.

Gatomon yawned. "Fine. I don't want to get fat, anyway."

Tai pulled at his hair. "Please? I'll, uh…I won't argue with you for the rest of the month?"

"And?"

Tai groaned. "And I'll give you my bed?"

Gatomon looked at him, a sly glint in her eyes. "Deal. I expect it to be made every night." She jumped down from the bed and smirked. "You better not call me 'Fluffy' at the contest…"

* * *

"A-a-and now! Welcome to the stage, Snowflake! And her owners, Miss Kari Kamiya and Mr. Tai Kamiya!" a man yelled into a microphone.

Gatomon shuddered as Kari carried her up. "You know, I would prefer to be called Fluffy."

Tai grinned. "Too late for those details now, _Snowflake._ Just be a good kitty and meow a lot, okay?"

"Meow, meow." Gatomon rolled her eyes.

"Sound more like a cat!" Tai hissed at her before he, his sister, and their 'pet' stopped in front of a table. Kari gently sat the cat down.

A judge smiled kindly at the group. "This is Snowflake? What breed is she?"

Tai looked around nervously. A camera crew was recording this; it would attempt to get the better acts on a news broadcast later that evening. He stepped up to an awaiting microphone. "We're…ahem, we're not sure. Exactly."

The judge nodded. "Well, then it's good you placed her under 'unknown origins.' If you would be so kind, could you have your cat sit down, please?"

"Gato…er, Snowy, sit," Kari said to the white cat. The cat glared at her before sitting down on all fours.

"Well, here's the trick card. Let's see how many she can do." The judge gave a sheet of paper to Tai, who handed it to Kari.

In the next five minutes, Gatomon—Snowflake was forced to lay down, roll over, and jump around an obstacle course.

"Well, that's the first cat I've seen all day that's done all of those," the judge exclaimed. "We normally save the obstacle course for the dogs, but I thought we could give Snowflake a try. You have a very smart animal."

Gatomon smirked at Tai at this. He rolled his eyes.

"Now, if you have any other tricks to show us?" the judge asked, kindly.

Snowflake…Gatomon grinned as Kari and Tai came next to her to converse. "I could talk to them. That would be fun!"

Tai rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and have them all freak out. You aren't good being a ventriloquist. Sorry, that's Sora and Yokomon's profession. Um, we could have you walk on two legs. Simple, but it'd work…"

"What's the fun of that? I walk on two legs all the time, anyway," Gatomon said. "Come on, I've had to act like a dog all this time. I want to do something exciting."

Kari spoke up. "She could Digivolve!"

Tai looked at her as if she were crazy. "But that's stranger than her talking. It'd never work."

Kari grimaced. "Yeah, but it was an idea…"

The judge called out to them. "So, have you decided on the final trick?"

Looking Gatomon in the eye, Tai said, "Just do something so we win, okay?" Gatomon nodded slyly, and Tai and Kari went back to the stands.

* * *

A ringing brought Matt to his telephone. He groaned and answered. "Hello? Ishida residence."

"Matt? Turn on the TV to the pet show. You have to see this," said his father urgently. Rolling his eyes, Matt did as directed.

And did a double take.

* * *

Izzy flipped through the channels at his house, trying to find something interesting to watch. He would have skipped past the pet show if Tentomon hadn't told him to stop. As it were, he arrived on that channel just in time.

* * *

"Tai?"

Tai smiled as he opened his cell phone while walking to his house, Kari holding Gatomon and a blue ribbon behind him. "Sora? What is it?"

"Matt showed me what happened at the cat show."

"Wasn't it great? We won! Well, Kari and Gatomon won, but I'm getting the prize money!"

Sora huffed from her end of the line. "Tai, she Digivolved!"

"Yeah, I wasn't happy about that either, but it was only for a second, and the judge thought it was a magic trick or something."

"Tai. What if she hadn't thought it was a trick?"

Tai rolled his eyes. "Sora, what else could it have been? Snowflake doesn't turn into a sparkling angel at thought. Cats don't do that."

"Just be prepared for Joe to go on a worry rampage if he finds out about this, okay?" Sora asked.

Tai allowed himself a big grin. "Sure thing. Bye!"

He hung up the phone, and nodded to Kari and Gatomon. "We're already getting fame!"

Gatomon licked her arms, yawning. "Enough excitement. I'm tired, and I've got a nice bed waiting for me…"

* * *

**That was immensely fun to imagine. Again, look up Tache! Thanks!**

**And review. Always review. There should be a little button below this...clicky it. Then type something, a random letter or word, anything...it's a review! Ta da!  
**


	76. Babysitting

**Random idea I had. I was going to have it with different characters, but I decided on them, since they're the most likely that this will happen to.**

* * *

_At a random house, anytime after the New Year._

"Once upon a time, in a faraway land…"

"Just last summer, actually."

Sora glared at Joe, who raised his hands in mock defeat. "I was just telling the truth…"

"This is a story. It doesn't have to be the truth." The redhead paused for a moment, looking at the baby in the cradle. "How did you know I was telling _that _story?"

"It was kind of obvious," Joe said, shrugging. "You asked me to help you tell it, and it's the one story we all know."

"Don't you know _Goldilocks_? _Rapunzel_? _Who's on First_?"

Joe scratched his head. "That last one was by Abbott and Castello. That's not a fairy tale."

"Yeah, but it should be. It's memorable enough." The girl sighed. "So, let's try this again. Once upon a time, in a land far away…"

"A different universe, actually. I guess that could be a land far away."

If looks could kill, Joe would have been long gone. As it was, he was a bit anxious in this situation.

Giving the already-mentioned glare, Sora cleared her throat and talked to the cradle in a high-pitched voice. "Well, wittle baby, since our 'friend' here keeps on interrupting, we'll let him begin the story. This should be interesting."

"Sora, I didn't know you could be cruel."

She just crossed her arms smugly. "Part of this job description."

"…we're babysitting. Doesn't that mean we're supposed to be nice and kind?"

Sora snorted. "With little kids? Joe, I love kids, but I have to be a dictator with them. And with you, apparently."

Joe raised his eyebrows. "…Sora Takenouchi, a dictator. You're deceiving everyone, aren't you?"

"Hey, don't tell anyone. I need to maintain an image here! Now, you, start the story," she replied, smirking. After a few attempts at arguing (AKA Joe opening his mouth and Sora hitting her fist threateningly) Joe sighed.

"Okay. Um. Last summer, in a summer camp…wow, this is sounding a little pathetic…okay, okay, I'm going!" Joe pulled at his sleeves. "Last summer, seven kids…all older than you, of course…went to a summer camp. They're parents forced them to go, even though a select individual would rather have gone to summer school than spend his break watching after younger kids…"

"Joe, you're rambling."

"Oh, sorry. There I go, rambling. Um, so…a creepy light…"

"Mystical."

Joe blinked. "Excuse me?"

Sighing, Sora said, "You don't say creepy unless you're referring to a bad guy. You say mystical."

"The baby can't even understand us, anyway! Why does it matter?"

"It just does!"

The blue-haired boy rolled his eyes. "Okay. A 'mystical' light," he said, placing the replaced word in air-quotes, "came to the seven of us…I mean, them…and a giant wave came and took them to a different world." He stopped and glared at Sora, who was cooing at the baby. She looked up briefly and motioned for him to continue.

Rubbing his glasses with his vest, Joe thought for a moment before continuing. "We…I mean, they…had arrived in the Digiworld, a place made from the Internet and telephone lines around the world."

"Joe, she doesn't know about technology," Sora said, picking the baby up out of her cradle and putting her on her lap.

"Oh, so she doesn't understand technology, but she understands what 'creepy' and 'mystical' mean?"

"Yep. Continue, just don't make it so confusing," his friend replied.

"Okay, okay. So, they arrived in the Digiworld. We won't get into specifics about that. They each had a partner Digimon…um, a Digimon is a Digital Monster…yeah, we'll just stick with Digimon. One was a bird, one was a bug, one was a dino…the list continues. The Digimon can evolve to a higher form to protect their friends when they need to."

The baby girl was giggling as Sora played Peek-a-Boo with it. Joe cleared his throat. "Sora, you want to continue?"

"Nope. Kinda busy here. Go on…you hadn't even started the plot yet."

Joe rolled his eyes. "Um. So, the seven kids wanted to find home. On their way, they fought random Digimon that had Black Gears…er, bad things…in them making them act all evil. The real bad guy was this creepy…see, I used the right word this time…devil, named Devimon. Um…yeah, Angemon, an angel, defeated him."

The baby was looking at Joe as if his description of Angemon as an 'angel' was impossible to believe.

Sora cleared her throat for him to continue. Joe sighed. "So, we…they moved on to another part of the Digiworld. Their Digimon managed to Digivolve higher due to Crests…is this too detailed?"

"Nope. She'll understand that much," Sora replied, tickling the little girl now.

Joe grimaced. "Of course she will. It's not like she's two or anything." Trying his best to ignore Sora's glare, he licked his lips and continued. "So, we defeated…um, Etemon, an evil monkey. Our group sort of disbanded for a bit when our leader disappeared back to the real world. But we all gathered again to learn that there was another one of us.

"So, we stormed this evil vampire's castle, and got back to the real world, where we engaged in multiple battles to protect this city. If you were older, you might remember it. Um, we found the eighth member, destroyed the creepy vampire, and returned to the Digiworld. But it was pretty messed up, since time flows differently there, and we had to defeat some really bad guys…"

The baby was now staring at Joe, as if it was listening to the story. Sora smiled and starting playing with the baby's small amount of hair.

The eldest Digidestined looked around. "So. We defeated the bad guys. And the main bad guys, Apocalymon…that was fun. I mean, they defeated them. After that, they were told that they had to go home. So they did. The end."

"What kind of ending was that?" Sora asked, frowning. The baby looked between them.

Joe coughed to clear his throat. "An ending. Wow. When you look at our story like that, it seems a little…small."

"It was anything but! Joe, you are forbidden from story telling!" Sora said, smirking. "Still, she liked it." She motioned to the little girl on her lap.

Joe looked at the baby, who was starting to drool. "Uh, not doubting your infinite knowledge of children, Sora, but how do you know?"

Sora nodded at the baby, who put her hands together and clapped a few times.

Joe blinked in response.

* * *

**As for whom the little girl is, one of Sora or Joe's neighbors. Okay? No questions on that, since I have no answers. She doesn't have a name. Therefore she's not really an OC. Ha!**

**Yeah. Review. I think I made the story really…er, strange. Did I do it wrong?**


	77. In the Beginning

**I'm sorry for the delay. No, wait, I'm not. It's not that you aren't all very nice, but I just haven't felt like writing for Digimon lately. Maybe I'm getting bored…I know, cherish the thought!**

**Big thanks to Tache for this…for pushing me to write and giving me random inspiration. You all should check out his stories…specifically the one I'm Beta reading…**

* * *

_Before 01. You'll see._

* * *

They had begun as eggs. Simple enough. A set of seven colorful eggs, lying in a clearing in the middle of File Island, strange devices attached conspicuously to them.

Time in the Digiworld passes strangely, but, nevertheless, they eventually hatched. Seven new Digimon, fresh from the egg. Without knowing why, they banded together, waiting out the time it took for them to Digivolve from Baby to In-Training.

Time passed without something to keep track of it, but, without a delay that they noticed, one day they all Digivolved. Seven In-Training were now free to roam the Digiworld. More specifically, File Island. Dragging along the Digivices, they explored all over without a care in the world.

However, even the most enthusiastic of roamers gets tired after a while. A pink ball sighed. "How much long do we have to wait?" he asked the other six.

Tokomon, a pinkish pig-like creature, yawned, his overly big mouth stretching out. Yokomon, a pink bulb-like creature, stuck her head into the mouth, seemingly entranced by the large teeth. Tsunomon, an orange ball with a large horn, pulled her out right before the mouth snapped close, the yawn at an end.

"That's a good question," Motimon, a pink blob with two arms, responded. Sitting down, he scratched his forehead. "It's been a while…how could we find them?"

Tanemon, another bulb-like creature, this one with a green body, frowned. "We should just keep waiting. They'll come to us."

Bukamon, a grey seal, shook his head as he floated forward. "They haven't come yet. Waiting is just plain boring."

"What if we're doing something wrong?" Yokomon asked. "I mean, I know that she will come, but what if she doesn't?"

"He will. They all will!" Koromon exclaimed, hopping up and down excitingly.

So they waited for a little bit more.

The idea eventually came from Motimon and Bukamon. The seal-like Digimon had grown even more bored in the passing days. "This is getting us nowhere. They should have been here by now!"

"Well, what are we going to do about it?" Tanemon asked.

Bukamon grinned. "Help them come, of course." He threw his Digivice at the nearest Digimon—that being Motimon.

The only In-Training with hands, he scratched the back of his head and glared. "Hey! I'm thinking…wait…I've got an idea!"

"What?" Koromon asked, hopping forward. The others circled around Motimon, who was hopping excitedly.

"Easy. We through the Digivices!" he said, holding his own and handing back Bukamon's. The seal frowned.

"Sorry I hit you on the head. But what does throwing these have anything to do with getting them here?"

"What if they need these to get here?" Motimon asked them. The other six frowned.

Tsunomon was the first to speak up. "So…we just throw these in the air and hope they get to everyone?"

Motimon nodded.

So began the tiresome task of throwing metal devices as high up into the air as they could. Continuously, for the next few hours, the seven small Digimon had a 'who could throw the Digivice the highest' contest.

Then, suddenly, as the Digivices all flew up again, they didn't fall back down. They continued, onward and upward.

"I win the contest!" Bukamon shouted, jumping excitingly.

Of course, then the Digiworld started raining seven Digidestined, and life became anything but boring.

* * *

**I just realized how many of them are pinkish. Poor them. Not that pink is a bad color. But, still…**

**For those that don't know…Koromon-Agumon, Tokomon-Patamon, Motimon-Tentomon, Bukamon-Gomamon, Yokomon-Biyomon, Tanemon-Palmon, and Tsunomon-Gabumon.**

**Review! Or I'll make Tokomon bite you! Don't think he won't!**


	78. Complaining and Fast Food

**Summer is almost here. Thought I should celebrate with you all…yeah, nothing better to celebrate summer than staying inside and reading a stupid piece of random fanfiction, huh?**

* * *

"What would you like to order?" questioned the cashier.

Mimi looked behind her at Sora and Joe, then turned back to face the cashier. "We'll have…a double cheeseburger, no tomato, medium fries, a large soft drink, and a large ice cream, chocolate. Sora, Joe, what do you want?"

They ordered their meals and stepped to the next part of the counter, waiting patiently for their food.

"How can you eat the fries?" Sora asked. She herself had gotten a baked potato.

Mimi tutted. "Hey, they're a vegetable, right?"

"…says who?" Joe asked.

Mimi turned to him. "Well, it's made from vegetables. You tell me. You're dad's a doctor…shouldn't he know that kind of stuff?" She rolled her eyes at his lack of knowledge.

Joe raised his eyebrows. Pulling a hand through his blue hair to flatten it, he said, "Mimi, French fries are very unhealthy. And just because it's made from potatoes doesn't make it a serving of vegetables."

"Why don't you ask Palmon?" Sora said, trying to make the matter blow over.

"I did," Mimi said. "She's not sure."

A few moments later, several trays were placed in front of the threesome, containing their meals. The children took the trays and found a table, sitting down. After unwrapping their food, they began to eat.

"Ew!" Mimi said, spitting out her first bite of her cheeseburger. "I asked specifically for no tomato!" She made to get up.

"Just take it off," Sora said, frowning. "You don't need to cause a ruckus."

"Yes, I do!"

Sora now rolled her eyes at Joe as their friend ran up to the front counter to complain about her burger. "Why do we even try?"

Joe nodded in understanding, slowly taking bites out of his chicken patty. Swallowing, he said, "It's a wonder she survived the Digiworld with no fast food…she eats so much of it!"

"And she never gains any weight. It's entirely unfair."

Mimi skipped back, a new burger in her hands. "They fixed it. See? Sometimes you have to complain a bit!"

"Yeah. Just not too much…" Sora said, forking through her potato. "How do you never gain anything?"

Mimi smiled, leaning forward. "Cheerleading," she whispered, as if it were the secret about how to cheat on a test.

"Come on! I do soccer and tennis, and I have a harder time staying in shape! You eat nonstop, and you never gain an ounce!" Sora retaliated, moaning. Mimi frowned at her.

"You're not even close to overweight! Why are you complaining?" the taller girl asked, taking a bite of her new burger. Joe just watched—this, girls arguing about weight and food, was something he was not going to become a part of. Instinct told him to stay out of it.

Sora grinned a little at her friend. "Sometimes you just have to complain a bit. Even if it doesn't do anything. It makes you feel better."

"That should so be my motto!" Mimi said, then turned to Joe. "Wait. That's _your _new motto!"

Joe raised his hands defensively. "What? I don't want a motto! Why should it be mine?"

"Easy." Mimi took a sip of her soft drink. "You complain a lot."

"I haven't spoken a word in complaint all day! You two have been the complainers!"

"This is an off day for you, then," Sora said, grinning wickedly. Mimi joined her, taking one of his fries.

Joe leaned back in his chair. "Why must you two always go against me?"

Mimi and Sora laughed, now helping themselves to his fries. "Now who's complaining?"

* * *

**I never realized how strange a word 'complain' is. Ugh. Anyway, I just thought up to a little spout of randomness…for those who are wondering why I'm doing so much Mimi, Sora, and Joe in this, it's because I realized I don't use them a lot. Don't worry, I'll get started on Matt, TK, and Izzy soon. I do Tai and Kari way too much.**

**No fighting against my logic.**

**Anyway, happy summer! Going to Orlando, Florida, in a week, so I'll be off of here for a while. Not that I haven't been off a lot anyway. Review! Thanks for reading!**


	79. Bunnies

**Random idea I had when supervising little kids making drums. Yeah, be afraid…**

* * *

_In 01, after the defeat of MetalSeadramon but before Puppetmon…_

* * *

"So. What now?" Mimi asked, frowning as they walked away from the beach, toward a normal-looking forest. Normal for the Digiworld, that was.

"We walk. That's what we do…we walk…on, and on, and on, and on, for all eternity…"

"Joe, deep breaths. You're rambling again," Tai said, rolling his eyes. Joe closed his mouth, frowning.

"But that's what we do, isn't it?" he asked, biting his lip.

Matt patted Joe on the back. "Yeah, but you don't need to point it out all the time. We sort of realized we walked a lot before you mentioned it," he said, in a countering tone.

The group, eight humans and eight Digimon, seven of which were rookie, one champion, continued walking in silence now. No Digimon were present, either friendly or antagonistic.

It was Izzy who broke the silence. "What should we talk about?"

"So long as it isn't computer sciency stuff. You just like showing off!" Tai said. Izzy stuck his tongue out at the leader briefly.

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Boys, boys!" Sora said, snickering slightly with Mimi. "Stop arguing! You two usually get along."

Tai scratched his nose. "We're bored, lost, and hungry. Never a good combination. Fighting with Izzy seemed like a nice task."

From behind, Izzy glared at him. "I can't say I agree."

Gatomon, walking next to Kari, rolled her eyes. "What happened to you all getting along with each other?"

"When has that happened?" Matt asked, pulling his crest out. "It all depends on the situation. Half the time, Tai and I are at each other's neck…"

"And the other half, we're contemplating ways to get Joe to eat grass," Tai said, smirking.

Joe crossed his arms. "Comtemplating…big word. Where'd you hear that from, Izzy?"

"Boys!" Sora half yelled, frowning. "Stop arguing already!"

"Sora, you're taking away our entertainment!" Gomamon said, waddling next to Joe. He ignored the glare from his partner.

"We are not your entertainment! When have we been fun to watch?" Joe asked, letting off his steam at his little partner.

Gomamon looked thoughtfully in the distance, as if thinking Joe's question over. "Hmmm…always? You all walk strange…"

Mimi interrupted before Joe could strangle out his reply. "Well, I think we should figure out where we are!"

"How?" Matt asked. "It's not like this place is anywhere similar to how it looked last time. What are we going to find, a signpost? 'Piedmon's Lair, three degrees north?'"

Tugging on his brother's shirt, TK laughed. "That isn't impossible…"

"You know what I'd like to find? A bunny," Mimi said, looking around. "There's not bunnies, or squirrels…nothing super cuddly!"

"Yeah, but knowing our luck, the bunny would attack us," Matt said. "Fluffy Tail Whack!" he said, pretending to dodge an attack.

Mimi stuck her tongue out at him. "Come on! Most of the fish don't attack us…"

"Yeah, but that's an oddity here," Joe commented.

"The bunny would probably have a machine gun, or want us to eat mushrooms, like the Gazimon," TK said, thinking to himself.

"I don't like Gazimon! They aren't bunnies, anyway, they're rabbits!" Mimi said defensively.

Izzy frowned. "But there's not really a difference. Bunnies are just a name for a small rabbit—"

"There's a difference!" Sora, Mimi, and Kari all said at the same time. Izzy jumped and stopped talking.

"You know what we need here?" Tai asked, to no one in particular.

Agumon scratched his head. "Rock candy wouldn't be too bad…"

"Not arguing with you there, but that wasn't what I was thinking," Tai said to his orange dino partner. "What we need is a television. Or a game system. Something to keep our mind off our problem with rabbits."

"Bunnies!"

"I don't care! What's it going to do if I call it the wrong thing? Twitch its nose at us?"

Izzy frowned as everyone else cracked up laughing. "Well, we're technically in a computer, Internet-based world. Making the need for a television or game system ironic."

Joe shook his head. "And I used to wonder how electronics were bad for us…"

Kari giggled. "Yeah, it just makes us think about bunnies while we're trying to save the world."

* * *

**I'm truly sorry for how random that was. That was more out there than normal…oopsie!**

**I'm also sorry for my delayed absence…vacation, volunteering, band, and getting my wisdom teeth pulled sort of takes it out of a girl…so, for once, I won't beg for reviews…not sure I deserve any at the moment.**


	80. Angel Sight

**Idea courtesy of Tache…thanks! And thanks for all the reviews for last chapter…!**

* * *

_Human world, Digi.5…um, Izzy's apartment._

* * *

TK yawned. "Izzy, are you almost done?"

Izzy responded from his computer, not turning around. "You've asked that ten times in the last five minutes. I expect that from Tai, not you."

"Well, are you?" said the young boy.

"For your information, no."

Kari laughed. Izzy had wanted to look into Patamon and Gatomon—more specifically, their Digivolution lines, as they both became angels. Izzy had been looking up all of the Digivolution lines lately—he claimed it would help to know strengths and weaknesses if they ever had to fight, as unlikely as that was.

Gatomon rolled her eyes. "Can I scratch my back now? This wire is itching me."

Izzy nodded, absentmindedly. Tentomon clarified for him. "The wires were my idea. I wanted to see how long you could last before doing something about it."

Patamon frowned. "So, they aren't measuring something about us?"

"Nope. They're just there to look proper. We figured it would get everyone to sit still better," Tentomon explained. Patamon and Gatomon, the latter looking slightly affronted, starting pulling off a mesh of wires that had been tied around various limbs.

"I had wondered why they weren't connected to anything…" Patamon mused out loud as he flew them over to Izzy's desk and dropped them in a pile next to the redhead.

Gatomon rolled her eyes. She jumped up next to Kari on the bed, her gloved paws on her hips. "Now what? You've had us explain our Digivolutions, jump in the air, and sit still. What else do you have to figure out?"

Izzy typed something out, then turned around to look at the three Digimon: Patamon, Gatomon, and Tentomon. "Could you two, Patamon and Gatomon, Digivolve for a few minutes?"

TK frowned. "Why do you want them to Digivolve?"

"I just want to get some measurements: height, wingspan, stuff like that. The windows are closed, and Mom and Dad know about Digimon, so they won't come in here," Izzy said, as if that had been on his mind.

Gatomon and Patamon looked at their partners. Their partners looked back. "Let's just do it and get something to eat," Patamon said. Gatomon shrugged in agreement.

Kari and TK took out their Digivices.

"_Patamon, Digivolve to…Angemon!"_

"_Gatomon, Digivolve to…Angewomon!"_

Needless to say, two angels inside Izzy's small bedroom made the room slightly crowded—slightly meaning entirely. Kari, being closest, opened the door to the outer hallway, allowing the three humans, Rookie, Champion, and Ultimate escape the small confines of the bedroom.

Izzy grinned hesitantly as his parents stared at the scene—they had been talking in the kitchen. "Um…I forgot how big they were…"

Angemon's deep voice laughed. "I don't think you'll be taking any measurements, no offense meant or anything."

Kari laughed. "Did you get measurements for any of the other Digimon?" she asked, thinking about the trouble MetalGreymon would cause in this situation.

Izzy laughed sheepishly. "Er…no. I realized that the only one I might be able to get would be Togemon and Lillymon, but Mom didn't want the house to become a pincushion in the name of science…I forgot that Angemon and Angewomon had bigger proportions than human beings…"

"Anything you could learn right now, since we're already Digivolved?" Angewomon asked.

TK interrupted Izzy before he could speak. "Why do you have helmets?"

If they could see Angemon's face, he probably would have raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? They're good defense."

"So you can see through them, right?"

"That's a random question," Angewomon commented dryly.

"Can we see your faces?" Kari asked quietly.

"Why?" both angels asked.

"Because," TK said.

Tentomon frowned…at least, his antennae went down. "That's not an answer. Though I am curious myself."

"It would be great for science…" Izzy said, looking hopeful.

Angemon looked to Angewomon. "I'm not sure why they're interested…they see us when we Digivolve to this form."

"But that's only for a few seconds…" TK stated.

Angewomon sighed. "Sure."

Both angels took off their masks, showing their faces and reddish eyes.**1***

Izzy started recording their appearance, despite it being not abnormal. Kari and TK smiled up at their partners. "So why do you where the masks? Do they help you see?" TK asked.

The two angels put the masks back on. "Who says they help us?" Angewomon said, smiling.

"Maybe they make us blind…maybe we can't see at all when we're wearing them," Angemon continued.

TK and Kari frowned. Both turned to Izzy and Tentomon. "Are they telling the truth?" Kari asked.

Izzy thought for a moment. "I'm not sure. I don't think so…"

TK interrupted yet again. "That would be so cool, if you did everything from listening and smelling and all!" he said, turning to his partner.

Kari smiled at her partner. "You _can _see through it, right?" Angewomon just grinned back.

After a few more moments, both Digimon Dedigivolved back into their lower forms. "You know what the problem is?" Tentomon said, laughing at Patamon and Gatomon, now sitting in their partners' arms. "As angels, you two don't tend to joke around…"

"Who says we were joking?" Gatomon asked as Kari petted her.

* * *

**1*. In the Gatomon-to-Angewomon sequence, I always think her eyes look small and bloodshot, thus my reasoning.**

* * *

**Anyway, yeah…now I need more ideas…hint, hint, reviews are lovely this time of year…!**


	81. Volcanos

**I have no good excuse for not writing. I would try to come up with something creative, but I don't feel like it at the moment.**

* * *

_Digi.5, sometime during late winter/early spring…whenever most elementary schools have science competitions._

* * *

I frowned. Something was not right here… "Izzy, what are you doing in my house?"

The redhead jumped, turning around. "Um…well, TK mentioned that you were having trouble with your science experiment…" He nodded his head to my brother, who was sitting innocently on the sofa, watching the TV. However, it was on 'mute': he was listening to our conversation at the moment.

I rolled my eyes. "It's a _baking soda volcano_. It's not exactly rocket science or anything of that nature."

"Why are you just doing a volcano?" Izzy asked, opting for an offensive strike. "There are so many _better_ experiments out there that would be so much more fulfilling…you could actually learn something…"

"No. You are not going to lecture me on the use of science right now," I countered, groaning. Sitting down next to TK, I dropped my bookbag off on the ground and looked at him. "Why did you tell Izzy I needed help?"

TK stopped pretending to watch the silent television. "Weren't you having trouble with the clay?"

"That—that was all Gabumon's fault! He stepped on it!"

A whirl of blue and white stepped out of my room. "Did not! It was an accident!" He disappeared again…for some reason, he didn't enjoy socializing a lot when there wasn't another Digimon to keep him company.

Izzy looked amused. "So _that's_ where this big dent came from…" He trailed off, chuckling at the deep indent in the otherwise flawless volcano.

"I was going to fix it today. But then I found you two in my house…Izzy, how'd you get here before me?" I asked.

He was looking at the volcano curiously; he answered the question from instinct, not really paying attention. "Before you? Well, didn't you have to stay after to clean the chalkboard erasers?"

Sitting up straight, I glared at him. "Don't tell me; you heard Sora telling Tai."

"Prodigious…either that was a great guess, or Tai already came by you to symphasize," Izzy said sarcastically. He didn't do that a lot, but when he did, it was annoying, to say the least.

"Look, I didn't throw that pencil…"

"Sure, sure." Izzy didn't look interested in my excuses, however truthful they were. TK, however, was, so I explained the story of being unfairly accused of throwing a pencil at another student, when it instead just slipped my grasp. I may have made it sound a little more exciting than it was, but my brother, apparently, thought it was quite heroic of his older brother.

Sometimes having a younger siblings could have its rewards.

However, other times…not so much.

"Izzy, now that you've spent the last ten minutes assessing my wimpy science project, can I have my house back?"

He looked up, smirking. "Territorial, aren't you? I expect it comes with having a wolf as a partner." He stood up and joined TK and me on the couch. "Now, Matt…I have a very important question."

"What is it?" I asked, irritated.

"How is a papier-mâché volcano scientific?"

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what does it do that proves a hypothesis? We all already know that vinegar and baking soda combine to form an elemental reaction…what question are you trying to answer?"

I scratched my head. "Um…I asked what a papier-mâché volcano explosion looked like, so I made it…? Something like that?"

Izzy glared at me; TK was looking at the television again, but he was giggling. "Sometimes I wonder how teachers stand you and Tai in the same grade." Izzy sniffed, seeming affronted. "You two are smart; I know that. But you joke around too much about schoolwork."

"And you're too serious," I murmured. Louder, I said, "So. My volcano will live, right, doctor?"

Izzy gave me a wry smile. "I can't tell if the baking soda has been dislocated or not. I'm not sure, actually."

"Dislocated…sounds like it won't survive." TK was giggling even louder. I'm glad he found the fate of my science grade amusing. "Any way we can tell without tearing it apart?"

Izzy thought for a moment. "Not without putting vinegar in to make sure. But, judging by the angle Gabumon's foot went in, I think it's safe to assume that the volcano won't erupt."

I groaned. "Great. I have to make it all over again."

"We can help…" TK said, looking at me calmly.

A bubbling noise made Izzy, TK, and I turn around quickly.

My volcano was erupting. White baking powder/vinegar solution—what was it called again?—was seeping out of the top and running down the painted brown sides. Gabumon stood behind it, a bottle labeled 'Vinegar' held clumsily in his hand. He looked shocked.

"…but Izzy said…"

"I said we could _assume_, not _know_! I was going to put in colored food dye and try to look into the volcano that way to check for sure!" Izzy said, split between amusement and irritation.

Gabumon looked at him sheepishly. "Oh…sorry, Matt…"

I sighed, then laughed. "It's okay. TK, I'm taking you up on that offer. Izzy, too. We need to make a new volcano." I added, in an undertone, "And this time it won't blow up ahead of schedule."

* * *

**Believe it or not, I have never made a volcano in the name of science. Though I did do a science experiment with a friend about different types of tsunamis…only 'first place' ribbon I got in elementary school.**

**Nostalgic at the moment, huh? Any of you readers ever make interesting/good/bad science experiments for school? Care to share?**


	82. Growing Up

**Thanks to Tache for suggesting the idea of using Mimi's parents…such a simple one that I would never have thought of! I sort of feel stupid about that…but that's why I have you, dear readers. To give me that much needed inspiration…**

**Before you all complain, this is sort of sentimental. Just…go with it, okay?** **And sorry for not writing for so long…school, band, getting sick, and a good deal of procrastination have kept me busy. But I'll get back on track now!**

* * *

Keisuke—father

Satoe—mother

* * *

_You'll see._

* * *

A young father held a squirming infant in his arms, his brow furrowed in concentration. In the next room, his wife was trying to decide what to dress said infant in. "Satoe, she's a year old. She won't remember whether she wears blue or yellow, let alone if it had lace. Just choose something."

Satoe Tachikawa sighed, shuffling through a closet already brimming with the diminutive clothing her daughter was dressed in. "Keisuke, they say that early childhood is the most…impressionable time in a person's life!"

"I don't think they were talking about clothes."

"But she needs to figure out it all! Favorite colors, what looks right, whether or not this bow would go nice with her hair so short…"

Keisuke sighed. "Honey, I think the only thing she'll think about the bow right now is whether or not it'd taste good or be easy to play with. Fashion sense comes later."

Satoe entered the room with a magenta baby dress; her husband balked: it didn't look fit for a toy doll, let alone his daughter. "…are you sure there's nothing more…comfortable?"

"Nonsense!" She dressed her baby in the outfit, visibly pleased. Her voice raised several octaves as she began cooing at her daughter. "Now, wittle Mimi likes this dress, doesn't she? Yes, she does!"

'Wittle' Mimi just played with the frilly collar along her neck.

* * *

"No, no, NO!"

"Meems, you have to. Come on, it'll be fun," her father said, trying to pull his daughter along with little luck.

"I won't, I won't, I won't!" a five-year old Mimi screamed, following new pattern of saying everything three times in a row. "You can't make me!"

Keisuke sighed. "Honey, it's not a fashion show. I just need to stop in and get some milk."

"I know, I know!" In her excitement, she forgot to keep her pattern going. "But I don't want to!"

"You remind me of your mom…" Mr. Tachikawa said, groaning and pretending not to notice the ongoing stares at him and his misbehaving daughter. At the mention of her mother, Mimi stopped.

"Mom? I remind you of Mommy?" Her lip quivered. "…I miss Mommy. Where is she?" She looked around quickly, as if expecting Satoe Tachikawa to materialize beside her. When that didn't happen, she bit her lip. "Miss Mommy…where is she? Tell me, tell me, tell me!" By the third time, she was almost crying.

Keisuke scooped his daughter into his arms. "She's out of town, remember? We have the weekend together, you and Daddy." Mimi put her arms around his neck.

"Just you and me?" she asked, pointing to him and then at herself.

"Yes, Daddy and Mimi," he said again.

She bit her lip, thinking. "Can we…can we get ice cream?"

Keisuke smiled. "We'll stop for some. After we get the milk. Deal?"

"Deal, deal, deal!"

* * *

Satoe Tachikawa was cooking, a new hobby of hers. Chocolate chip cookies, all ready for when Mimi came home with her friends. The nine-year old had arranged a play date with her three closest acquaintances…she had many friends, and she finally decided to show them her home.

Keisuke was at his work, probably finishing up the latest project of some sort. Satoe's husband worked hard, provided for his wife and daughter. That was one of the things she admired about him; he wanted the best life possible for his family.

The door banged open; Satoe looked to the doorway from the living room to the kitchen. But no giggling girls—in her imagination, Mimi and her friends were always all smiles and laughs—came through the doorway to the delicious smell of cookies. Instead, Satoe heard Mimi's bedroom door bang open and shut.

Mrs. Tachikawa frowned and, grabbing a plateful of the fresh cookies, went to her daughter's room. "Mimi?" she asked, knocking on the door. "What happened?" Silently, she entered her daughter's room, where Mimi was sprawled on her bed. "Nothing. Go away."

"Mimi, I will do no such thing. What happened, sweetie?" Satoe said, sitting at the edge of Mimi's bed. Mimi sniffled her nose.

"Nothing _happened_."

"Mimi, I know a lie when I hear one," her mother said, trying not to push too hard. She knew how Mimi hated it when she had to explain something; she would either come all out immediately or remain silent for days.

Mimi sat up, rubbing her eyes. "They…had other things to do."

Satoe frowned. She could rebut that, get mad at her friends, but that would only make Mimi more upset. If there was anything Mimi valued, it was her friends being there for her. Before she got a word in to comfort her daughter, however, Mimi continued, her voice rising slightly.

"They said they would come…but they lied! They all had plans already! And they lied!"

"Now, now, Mimi. Don't blame them. Were they sorry about it?"

Mimi slowly nodded. "Yeah, but…still, they lied! I hate them! I hate them so much!"

"No, you don't," Satoe responded instantly. "You think you do, but don't push them away. It's not how they value your friendship; it's how you value theirs. Try again next week…always give second chances, sweetheart."

"But…" Mimi started, wiping her nose. "They said…"

"And you said you'd take out the trash yesterday and it's still full in the kitchen," her mother said. "Nobody is completely truthful."

"I was meaning to…"

"And so were they."

Mimi nodded. "So I can invite them next week?"

Satoe smiled. "Choose a day. In the meantime, why don't we try out these cookies?"

After a few minutes, Mimi was smiling. "I'm almost glad they didn't come."

"Why?" asked her mother, bemused.

"Because now we get to split the cookies!"

* * *

Satoe and Keisuke Tachikawa were holding hands.

Their daughter…their Mimi…had just disappeared in a whirl of light, into the unexplainable sky.

And they would wait, right there, until she came back.

* * *

**So, in case you didn't catch Mimi's ages, I go from around one, five, nine, and the last one, she's eleven.**

**Again, sorry for the major delay, but I needed it. New chapters are coming…at least once a week, provided I don't get caught up with schoolwork and band.**

**And I know that was more sentimental than funny, but a good sentimental always makes me smile, so I hope you had the same effect! **

**Thanks to Tache…btw, check out his story, 'Innocent Misunderstandings'…that would be a part of this, but it's too mature for this. Also thanks to animelover_inf and BearerofStupidity and everyone else who's stuck with this! Review…recognize yourself in Mimi as a child at all?**


	83. Bunsen Burner

**This chapter was written by BearerofStupidity...major super uber big thank you! I loved it, and I think everyone will as well!**

* * *

**Before I'll start with the story, I'd like to thank you all for reading this chapter, and of course all the other awesome chapters of HaHa Moments.**  
**A very big thank you goes to crestoflight3 for publishing my story. I hope I don't disappoint her!**  
**Okay, enough talking!**

* * *

_Never let fall a lit match_

"It's such a nice day outside. I could play a match of soccer, go to the beach, or simply lay on the grass and relax. But no! I have to stay in and listen to my boring chemistry teacher talking about boring safety rules for working with the boring Bunsen burner!" groaned Tai as he watched out of the window.

"Man, relax. At least we have some practical work today," his blond friend Matt replied. "And now take a match and lit the gas before we all die because the butane repressed all the oxygen in this room!"

"Wow, big words for a blond. It seems Izzy's genius has rubbed off on you," Tai teased while lighting a match.

Yes, Tai likes to tease Matt for his blond hair, but never realizes how easy it is to get back on him:

"At least I am capable of becoming intelligent, in contrast to you! Your thick head and massive bush of hair will never allow any form of knowledge to enter your brain. That is if you even have one!"

"What! Say that again, Ishida!" Tai answered while letting the burning match fall down and holding up his fist in front of Matt's head.

"Hey, hey. Calm down! That was just a jo... Do you smell that?" Matt replied sniffling the air, now smelling like something was burning.

Unfortunately, the match that Tai has just dropped landed on his pencil case and set it on fire.

"Oh, god! Wipe it out! Ah! Please, don't burn my precious hair!" Matt was panicking. Partly because he thought of how much detention they would got, and partly because he feared that his beloved hair could take damage.

"Calm down! I have it under control!" Tai said as he put Matt's jacket over the fire to suffocate the flame.

"Phew. That was close. We are lucky that the teacher didn't notice the fire... Wait! What have you done to my jacket? Oh my god, it's ruined! I'm gonna kill you!" Matt yelled as he realized what Tai has done.

"Mr Ishida, would you please be quiet?" The teacher's voice rang through the room. "You are disturbing me! Take a look at Mr. Kamiya, he would never do something that would disturb the lesson! Okay, where was I? Is it just me or does something here smell burned? Whatever, on with the safety rules! Never let fall a lit match! It could possibly set a pencil case on fire..."

Matt just stared incredulously at a grinning Tai.

* * *

**Good, huh? Maybe I should just let you readers write the rest...it's fun just to read this myself! But, no, you'll make it hard on me and make me write more. Oh, well...review, give ideas, thank BearerofStupidity, stuff like that...happy Thursday!**


	84. Score

**And procrastination begins! Yes, this is me, not doing my physics and Calculus homework. Can't help it…three day weekend, and I really don't want to worry about it right now. Oh, well…it will get done. When is another matter…**

* * *

_Fall after 01._

* * *

Soccer was Taichi Kamiya's favorite subject.

Sure, it wasn't a school subject, like math, or science. But it was as complicated as math, with as many rules as a physics textbook could hold. It used its own language to communicate from player to player what the next move would be. It had a rhythm like that in a music class: the cheering crowd, the panting teammates, the thud of the ball on the ball of the foot…

"Tai, what are you doing?"

"Planning my obituary," he answered, sighing and moving his hand under his chin.

Izzy frowned. "I never thought _you _would get bored of soccer."

"This isn't soccer! This is…this is little kids throwing a ball around!"

"And how is that different than soccer?" Izzy asked, bemused.

Tai groaned. "Real soccer doesn't bore you to death. Do you think Coach would throw a fit if I ran away while I still have brain cells?" He shot a glance at his coach, who was busy watching the game.

"Tai, not that you have a lot of brain cells to lose, but if you want to be team leader, you have to watch. I could escape with my life; you can't," Izzy explained.

"Being assistant coach wouldn't be worth this…"

The Odaiba soccer team was sitting around the two Digidestined, with equal expressions of boredom present on each face. The youth team—students aged between eight and ten-was playing a match. For support, the junior varsity team had been asked to come in and offer inspiration.

Somehow, however, Tai didn't think that inspiration and snoring were one and the same.

The coach had turned around. "You could be a bit more cheerful…" he said, almost doubtfully. The team remained slumped on the bench.

"There you go, Izzy, go ahead and be cheerful," Tai said.

Izzy snickered. "Why me?"

"You're the one trying to defend this."

"No; I'm trying to state a fact. I personally find this more boring than late-night talk shows," Izzy stated matter-of-factly.

A little boy walked in front of them, looking doubtfully at the game. A girl with purple hair was chasing after him. "Go, team!" she screamed, waving a little flag as she led the boy away, not before looking in awe at the older team.

Izzy waved at her; she turned and ran the other way. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You're not supposed to be friendly…we're supposed to be cool and hip and teenage-like," Tai commented blandly.

"…I don't understand younger students…"

Tai yawned. "Go, team," he said half-heartedly, waving his hand in the air. Izzy rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure that will help out a lot, Tai," he said sarcastically.

Tai looked at the redhead in defeat. "This is more boring than Mimi on the subject of nail polish."

His friend groaned. "That's impossible." He turned his attention to the game. "Well, _he's _not doing too bad," he said, motioning to a young member of the Odaiba youth team in current possession of the ball.

"So? Number one, his hair is stranger than mine, and number two, neither team has scored yet. At least the game's about to end…"

Izzy chuckled darkly. "I don't think that maroon hair matters in a soccer game, Tai. And, if neither beats the other, they'll just schedule a rematch, and we'll be forced to sit that one in too…" Tai groaned.

A few seats down, the coach was trying to talk to his members. "Fun, huh? Doing well…"

"They haven't even scored," one of them replied.

"But the other team hasn't scored yet, at least…" the coach said hopefully.

Tai was yawning now. "I should have brought Agumon."

"What would he have done?" Izzy questioned, his eyebrows raised.

"Burn the soccer field and let us get out of here."

"This must be desperate. Tai's thinking about harming his precious soccer field," Izzy joked. "Though I would like Tentomon to kill the scoreboard…that would get us out early…"

"Boys, stop talking about video games and focus on the game!" Coach said. Tai and Izzy nodded, pretending that's what they had indeed been talking about.

The boy who had the ball was sprinting to the goal…he dodged a player from the other team…he kicked…

"_And it's a score for Odaiba!" _the announcer called into his microphone. Coach glared at the team: Tai and Izzy started politely clapping to get him away from them. Then they settled back into their positions.

"Well, at least we scored once…" Izzy said, a little sadly.

"Still, what I wouldn't give for a Digimon to come and wreak havoc right now…they never come when we need them most!"

"I don't think saving us from boredom is a need basis…" Izzy said, sighing. He looked at the remaining time, and balked. "Then again…do you think Coach would notice if I started making smoke signals?"

* * *

**Okay, little smidgeon there. Not too good, I will admit…but someone requested I do something to include 02 characters briefly…I didn't name anyone, but I tried to reference to some…Izzy and Tai are our primary focus because they're the two soccer players. Well, Sora plays soccer as well, but she's on the girls' team…**

**Review! Please? Or I'll get as bored as Tai and Izzy were…and that wouldn't be good for me trying to procrastinate, now would it?**


	85. Superior

**Special thanks to **_**Howling Domain **_**for this idea…hope you all enjoy it! And, guys, please do not take offense at any of this. It is all meant in jest, specifically at the male Digidestined.**

* * *

"So…boys," Sora stated out of the blue.

Mimi sighed. "Yep. Boys."

Kari looked at the two older girls. "What about boys?"

Mimi snickered. "They're…hmmm…how would you describe them?"

Sora thought for a moment. "Irritating, annoying, whiny, pathetic…take your pick of the adjective."

"You've got a point. I mean, this one time…" Mimi started. Kari interrupted.

"Why are you two discussing boys when we're on a 'girl's night out'?" she asked innocently.

Mimi, Sora, and Kari had decided to have a day out, girls only—a day to shop, play, eat, and most of all, talk. No boys had been invited; Tai had willingly let Kari go when Mimi had threatened to make him come along to carry the bags. The three girls were currently at the mall, shopping; at least, two of them were looking at the new fashions with little if any interest. Mimi, on the other hand, was having too much fun.

Sora laughed. "That's what you do when it's only girls. You discuss the guys!" She stopped as Mimi grabbed a shirt, adding it to a pile of clothing accessories folded upon her arm. She nodded.

"See, Kari, the boys aren't here to hear what we say. Girls only is the perfect time to get the goods on the boys…we need a strategy if we're going to survive in this world!"

Kari raised her eyebrows. "…okay…I guess that makes sense…sort of…"

Mimi nodded. "Of course it makes sense. Anyway, this one time…ooh, look at that shirt!" She ran over across the aisle to a pink and frilly collection of material.

Sora shook her head. "Somehow I don't think that's how her story was supposed to go…" Kari laughed at that. "Boys are just…immature."

"How so? They don't go crazy over clothes…" Kari pointed out.

Sora frowned. "You've got a point…but would a girl ever squirt water out of her nose for a dare?"

The younger Digidestined didn't need to think too hard before shaking her head. "Of course not."

"Girls are just more…refined," Mimi said, returning with several new outfits to try on.

"Refined? We're just smarter," Sora argued.

"What about Izzy? And Joe? Aren't they pretty smart?" Kari asked, slightly confused.

Sora frowned. "Well, they're smart, but they don't have common sense. Joe's always fretting about school, and Izzy's stuck to that computer. Girls actually know things. Like…like how to find a good deal when shopping, or…"

"Or how to fold clothes instead of just piling them on the floor?" Kari said, trying to help out.

Mimi nodded. "And we're got better fashion sense. I mean, all Tai ever wears is a t-shirt and khakis! How dull is that?"

"Well, Joe tries to look proper," the redhead said.

"_Tries _being the important word of that sentence," Mimi retaliated. "And girls have hair to work with…"

"I dunno, Matt and Tai sure are trying to compete with us in hairdos," Sora contemplated.

"Maybe they just don't want a haircut?" Kari asked innocently.

"No, I think they're just jealous of our superiority!" said Mimi. They stopped for a moment by the changing rooms; however, Mimi put her stash of finds on the return pile. When she saw her friends staring at her, she shrugged. "I don't feel like trying them on."

Sora and Kari rolled their eyes. In an unspoken agreement, they began to head to the exit.

"Don't get me wrong, the guys can be wonderful," Sora said. "But they're also impossible to understand. And they think _we're_ confusing."

"So…girls are superior?" Kari asked as they stepped out into the afternoon.

Leading the way to the train station, Mimi nodded. "And don't you ever forget it!"

* * *

**So, should I do a sister chapter with the guys discussing the girls? Any comments? Likey, no likey? Just review, please!**


	86. Breadcrumbs

**Okay, I promised Tache I'd get this out tonight. And, while I don't often hold to my promises, I figure I do owe him. Hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

_During Digi.5_

* * *

"Tai! Kari! I've made brownies!" Yuuko Kamiya called out from inside the kitchen. She looked proudly down at her masterpiece—chocolate and sugar, mixed carefully together. Maybe she shouldn't have added the tomato and lettuce to it, but children needed more fruits, didn't they? It wasn't like the vegetables were _noticeable_…and with all the sugar, it wouldn't taste any different. Or so she told herself.

She got up and started piling a plate of brownies together. Perhaps they were busy studying…poor dears were getting older. Yuuko wanted to sigh at how fast the time was going; what they needed was a treat for all their hard work! And brownies…well, they _were _what she had made. Might as well have them taste test before Susumu came home from work…

Humming slightly, she balanced the plate of brownies and went to their room. The door was closed; maneuvering the freshly baked—a.k.a. hot—dessert using a fold of her apron, she managed to open the door. "Kids! Brownies…"

Tai and Kari weren't in there. But something was.

Or rather, two somethings. One on each bunk. _Plush toys…?_ If so, Yuuko thought, they were rather high quality. That orange dinosaur on Tai's bed looked almost…alive. Like he was breathing.

"I wonder where they got them…" she asked, smiling slightly. Her children still played with toys! Well, Kari ought to; after all, she still was a young girl. But her son…she smiled fondly as she looked at the toy on Tai's bed. It was sitting up, against the wall, it's green eyes wide open. However…

"That's odd…did Tai get water over you or something?" Yuuko asked the dinosaur doll in a high pitched voice, as one would talk to a pet or a young child. The dino's eyes looked…wet. As if they were watering, from not blinking. Tai must have been careless and spilled something on it before he left. Yuuko put the brownies down on the bed, near the dino's feet, and reached towards it, intending to wipe the eyes off…

A sudden movement made her jump, nearly hitting her head on the bunk above. But, to her relief, it was only Miko, cuddling up next to a strange cat plushie on Kari's top bunk. Maybe it was Persian…it almost looked Egyptian, with strange purple decorations coming out of the ears. Not a normal cat, but it was cute in its own way…maybe Kari had gotten it at a foreign fair or something.

The tag would say. She hadn't noticed one on Tai's dinosaur, but Kari didn't destroy her toys as quickly as Tai had. Yuuko pushed Miko out of the way and grabbed the cat toy.

A quick observatory glance didn't show any signs of the tag. Maybe it was under those thick yellow gloves…

However, a rattle from below made her put the cat gently down and turn her attention to the bottom bunk once again.

The brownies were all gone. In their place were crumbs; on Tai's bed, on the now-empty plate, on the orange dinosaur stuffed animal thing's muzzle. "Miko?" Yuuko called, confused. She shrugged; she'd have to keep an eye on Miko later, to make sure that cat didn't get sick from all the brownies it just consumed.

But Miko had gotten crumbs on Tai's doll! Yuuko thought for a moment; it was obviously new, or she would have seen it before.

She'd just have to give it a washing, get it nice and clean. Mrs. Kamiya smiled and picked up the doll. She grunted slightly; it was a lot heavier than any toy animal had a right to be. Oh, well. It wasn't as soft as toys usually were…actually, it didn't feel like any toy she had ever had before. Maybe this was the newest trend in kids' accessories—strangely lifelike yet unrealistic dolls…

She was halfway down the hall when Tai and Kari stepped into the house, laughing slightly. They both paused when they saw their mother carrying the orange toy.

"Hi, kids!" she said, smiling widely. "Miko ate all the brownies and got crumbs on this doll…I was going to throw it in the wash for a few cycles…"

Tai ran forward. Quickly, he seized the doll under the arms. "Um, no thanks, Mom! No need to wash him! He cleans up really well…I mean, I know how to clean it up...I mean…I'll just take it back!"

Yuuko relented, taken aback. "Really, it's no trouble. I'm glad to see you're still playing with them! Where did you get him?"

"Him? Who said anything about him being a him? It's an it. Um, where I got it? Um…gotta go, see ya later!" Tai practically ran into his room, Kari trailing behind. She smiled in an apologetic manner, then closed the door hurriedly.

"…well, I'd better make more brownies…" Yuuko went back to the kitchen, shaking her head.

* * *

"I'm an 'it'? Thanks for that, Tai," Agumon said sarcastically after Tai dropped him to the floor.

"First of all, Agumon, I just saved you from death by washing machine. You can be slightly more grateful; I was trying to make sure she didn't know you weren't a doll. Number two, you need to lose a few pounds," his partner answered, throwing himself on his bed. He sat up slowly. "Why does my bed feel like it has crumbs on it?"

Agumon shrugged. "Blame Miko?"

"Miko doesn't eat brownies," Gatomon said, stretching.

"So? According to their mother, she does…"

* * *

**Ta da! Okay, first of all, that was extremely easy to write. Always a good sign. Second of all, I have the next three chapters planned out; the next chapter is a sequel to my girls-day-out chap prior to this one. Then I've got something else, then I have another plan following after this chapter. Okay. Just thought to put that there in the open.**

**Review! Or Mrs. Kamiya will realize about Digimon…not sure how that pertains to you reviewing, but somehow it will!**


	87. Gossip

**All these months later, the sequel to that Girl's Day Out chap if finally here! And, yes, it only took me an hour to write. But, well…I guess it just took three months to regain my excitement and interest in writing for Fanfiction.**

* * *

_Same day as 'Superior.' See that chapter for further details about what the girl's were doing._

* * *

"Check, mate."

Tai swept his hand across the chessboard, knocking over the black king piece. He grinned widely. "Okay, who else wants to play me?"

Izzy looked up from his laptop. "Tai, each of us has played you in turn. You're out of opponents."

Tai's grin didn't waver. "Rematches?"

The other boys in the room—Izzy, Joe, T.K., and Matt—groaned. "How about we don't and say we did," Matt said dryly.

"Well, what else can we actually do?" Tai asked, setting up the pieces again.

"Video games."

"I told you, Mimi promised she'd kill us if we touched them."

"Television."

"Another instant death. Courtesy of Mimi."

Matt whistled. "When did Mimi ban all this?"

"When she and Sora came to pick up Kari. It was kind of scary," Tai answered, thumbing a pawn in his hand.

Joe piped in. "I walked in when they were leaving—they looked like they were ready to murder everyone in their path."

"That's girls and shopping," Izzy said offhandedly. When he noticed everyone else staring, he closed his laptop. "Haven't you ever seen your mother on Black Friday?"

"Now that's scary," Tai said, nodding.

"So, what can we do?" T.K. asked. "Eat?"

Tai allowed his grin to fade a little. "Agumon raided the fridge last night. Sadly, we're out of anything edible. Unless you count Mom's cookies, but I'd rather not watch you all die slow and gruesome deaths…"

Matt sighed. "So, no TV, no video games, no food. This is fun." His sarcasm made even Joe crack a smile.

The girls had decided to spend a day out together—no, _Mimi _had decided that they would decide to spend a day together. Bonding time, she called it. Not that spending months in a world full of monsters and crazy situations allowed one to bond just a little. Of course not. And once she decided that the girls had to hang, she decided the guys had to spend the day together as well.

Maybe it was a bad idea to go along with it. But Mimi with her cheerleading pom-poms in her hand, glaring at you and smacking them together, was a slightly scary sight. Slightly more than scary. So here the boy's were, in the Kamiya's living room, staring around the room.

Joe was sitting on the edge of the couch. "Okay, think. Think, think, think. We could…I don't know, we could…um…"

"Play chess?" Tai offered helpfully.

"Tai, why don't you have any more games?" Izzy asked.

"I do. They're in my room. But Gatomon won't let me in…I stepped on her tail yesterday, and now she won't let me near her unless Kari is nearby as well."

T.K. laughed. "You aren't having luck with your Digimon lately."

"Tell me about it."

Joe was still trying to come up with a solution to the boredom problem. "We could…um…well, why not sports?"

"Mimi also banned that. Apparently, kicking a ball at each other isn't counted as 'bonding.'" Tai said, groaning.

"You know what she wants us to do, right?" Izzy asked, setting his laptop gingerly down on the side table. He waited until the other boys were looking at him. "She wants us to actually talk about something worthwhile."

"…that's what girls do, not guys," Matt responded, shaking his head.

T.K. looked around from where he was rolling a pen up and down on the table. "What could we talk about?"

"Well, _they _will be discussing fashion, school, and us."

"Us?" Joe asked. All five of them gathered around the middle of the room, taking various seats around the coffee table.

Izzy cleared his throat; he was enjoying this too much. "Precisely. 'Boys' will be a primary topic on their list of gossip to confer with one another."

"And how do you know this?" Tai asked the redhead, smirking.

Izzy didn't hesitate. "Sora told me. Well, warned me."

"I've got an idea!" T.K. said proudly.

"What?"

"Let's talk about them!"

"What about them?" Joe asked, amused.

"Um…I dunno."

"I know," Tai said, folding his arms against his chest. "Girls are pushy."

"Not all of them," Joe said. "Kari and Sora aren't too bad."

"Unless they gang up on you," Tai countered. Joe thought for a moment, then gulped.

"Point taken. Girls are definitely pushy."

"They're obsessed with clothes. And shoes," T.K. offered.

Matt laughed. "I dunno, they're always saying how it's the inside that counts, but then they focus on all that jewelry and stuff…"

"You've got a point!" Tai said, sitting up straighter. "Girls are hypocrites!"

"We should tell them that!" T.K. said excitedly.

"No!" Matt said, grinning. "Weren't we just saying how scary and pushy they were? Do you want to become a punching bag?"

T.K. shook his head.

The room grew quiet as each male Digidestined thought of the female companions. Finally, Matt sighed. "Well, this got us no where."

"This is why boys don't gossip," Joe said in relief. He looked around. "What can we do now?"

Izzy looked around. "You know, one of us—besides Tai—could go into the room and get a new game."

Tai stared. "…why didn't I think of that…"

"Because you all were too busy trying to gossip to think of what we could do in the meantime," Izzy responded, smirking slightly.

* * *

**Everyone was out of character! Ah! That's what comes from a three-month hiatus. Oh, well. How bad was that? I know, pathetic ending, but I can't come up with anything better.**

**So, um, review! I'm going to try to get back on schedule here. Wish me luck! Give me suggestions, since I'm basically out, and I still need to get to my goal of a hundred chapters.**


	88. Cut Out for This

**Idea courtesy of Tache. I personally can relate to Joe in this…you'll see.**

* * *

_Sometime after Christmas. Because that's the time when Joe would try this out for the first time._

* * *

"Okay. I can do this. Of course I can. I can do anything. Right. Joe, just take a deep breath, and…"

"Who are you talking to?" my partner asked, waddling into the living room. I glared at him.

"The walls," I said, snidely. "Who do you think I'm talking to?"

"I dunno, but you sound very…enthusiastic," he responded as he came up next to me. "What are you doing?"

I sighed and put my controller down. "Nothing, apparently."

"Aw, don't be such a spoilsport!"

"Well, if I say anything, you'll just ask a million questions."

Gomamon shook his head. "Not true. I'm not that annoying."

I laughed. "You sure?" I said quietly. Then I stood up.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked. I leaned down and picked him up. "Hey! No manhandling! Joe, put me down!"

"No," I said simply. "Gomamon, I've told you enough that you can't leave the room unless I'm with you. Mom and Dad could be home at any moment…"

"But…"

I didn't get to hear the rest of his statement; I tossed him onto my bed and closed the door. There. It'd take a while for him to get that open again. That's the one good thing with having a Digimon partner with flippers.

I went back into the living room and flopped onto the couch. Back where I started. "Okay, Joe, you can do this. Everyone else does…it's your turn…" And, trying not to notice my shaking hands, I turned on the television and picked up the controller.

* * *

Two hours later, and I was starting to believe that I just wasn't cut out for this kind of thing. It obviously wasn't good for me…but, um…it had a worse effect than I had anticipated…

"Stupid, idiotic, meaningless, pathetic…"

"Joe?"

"…waste of space, horrible, crappy…"

"Earth to Joe…come in, Joe? Joe, do you read me?"

"…intolerable, terrible, thick, worthless…ugh!"

"Joe!"

I blinked. "What…Gomamon?" I blushed slightly, standing up.

"What are you doing? Screaming at the walls this time?" he asked, in a slightly accusing tone.

I laughed sheepishly. "Um…one wall in particular…"

He looked up. At the television.

"Um…how did you get out here?" I asked quickly as I made toward the remote control.

"Jim. He didn't even realize what hit him. No changing subject. What's this?" he asked, looking amused instead of annoyed.

"What?"

"What's on the television?"

"…colors. And, er…words."

Gomamon sighed. "Joe. Are you doing what I think you're doing?"

"…no…?"

"You are!"

"It's not like that!" I said quickly, trying to cover the screen with my body. Where had the remote gone to?

"Is that why you were stomping around earlier?"

I blushed deeper. "…you heard that?"

"The entire apartment did," Jim said as he entered the room. Great. My brother. The one weekend he's home, and this happens. "Joe, can you get Gomamon to stop pouncing on me when I open the door to our room?"

I glared at my partner, who just shrugged. "Hey, the door opened, I wanted out. It didn't help that you kept on screaming death threats at something."

I bit my lip. "You heard that, too?"

"Yep. That was even louder than when we were being chased by the Dark Masters."

"Listen, I can explain…"

Now my brother was looking amused. "You sound like you're guilty of treason. What's up?"

Gomamon chortled. "Isn't it obvious?"

Jim looked at the television, then laughed out loud. "Really, Joe? What level are you on?"

"Okay, okay!" I said, biting my lip. "I was bored, and I have homework, but, well…Tai and Matt are always talking about this, so I decided to give it a try, and…um, I'm on level five." Wow. That was an anticlimactic ending to my monologue.

"Joe, it's a video game. Stop acting as if you stole a car."

Gomamon, on the other hand, looked pleased with me. "Way to go, Joe. I didn't even know you knew how to have fun."

"Har de har. Thanks for that," I said sarcastically as I moved away from the television.

Gomamon jumped onto the couch. "Anytime. Now, are you going to play, or can I give it a try?"

I looked at the screen, then at Gomamon. I'd heard enough horror stories about Agumon on video games… "Naw, buddy, I think I'll keep going."

"Suit yourself." He made himself comfortable. "Just stop screaming every time you die, okay? I have a feeling it's going to be often."

"…why am I partnered with you again?" I asked to the wall as I started on level five for the seventh time. At least this time I had an audience...

* * *

**Before anyone asks…or doesn't ask…I'm a complete wimp at video games. Well, Guitar Hero and Mario Kart are fine, but…adventure games…ugh! Anyone got Skyrim for Christmas? I screamed at the first set of bandits that attacked me. Anyway, I can't imagine Joe spending too much time watching TV, let alone playing video games, so I thought this would be good in its ironicness. It's shorter than I planned, but, oh well.**

**Review! And…um…I'll tell you a funny story about me and my failed attempts at video games! Not that you care, but…review all the same!**


	89. Makeover: Izzy Edition

**This is a new record for me lately. Three chapters in two days. Let's see how long this good luck will last.**

**Idea is from fantasyguardian, so major thanks are in order!**

* * *

_Digi.5, anytime, but preferably after previous chapters 'Superior' and 'Gossip.' And just after the holidays, sort of like last chapter.  
_

* * *

"Uh…I really don't think this is a good idea…"

Mimi just waved her hand in the air and, without turning around, laughed. "Of course it's a good idea. Just wait and see, Izzy."

Sora cast the me a pitying look…I can't say that I was pleased with it. But she had no control over her friend—either that, or she was Mimi's accomplice, a fact I was beginning to believe with every step we took in the mall.

"I'd rather not. Why couldn't I bring my laptop again?"

I'm pretty sure Mimi rolled her eyes; you could just tell with the sigh she emitted. "We're here to make you…cooler. A laptop is nice, sure, but…well…the fact remains that…"

Unfortunately for me, Sora came to her rescue. "Izzy, the laptop can't take up all your time. Especially when we're trying to help you here."

I groaned, then flinched when Mimi and Sora both turned back and glared at me.

* * *

"_So, Izzy, it's a deal, right?"_

_I nodded; my mind was full with unblocking a text file from the web. Then I realized—I had just said yes to something. I looked up at Sora and Mimi's grinning faces. "Wait, what?"_

"_We'll meet you here tomorrow at ten," Sora said, getting up to leave. Mimi stood up next to her, pulling on a pink coat._

"_Oh, and Izzy, bring some money along. You're going to need it."_

_They both left the room, courteously saying good-bye to my mother as they walked outside. As the door swung shut, I blinked. "What did I just agree to…?"_

* * *

It turns out, while my mind had been absorbed in other matters, they had decided to take me on a little field trip. To the mall. To buy me a new and improved wardrobe.

Not that that made sense. Something being 'new' implied it had never existed before; but 'improved' implied it was a remake of an original item. I felt that now wasn't the time to get into this.

"Okay. So no plaid, no button-ups, no khakis, and no orange!" Mimi said in a commanding tone as we stopped outside one of the larger clothing stores in the mall.

I blinked. "What's wrong with orange?" I managed to stutter out.

"One, it's so not 'in' this year, and two, it clashes with your hair." She scrutinized me for a moment. "Hmmm…darker colors, but no black. Maybe navy…a forest green, perhaps…"

Sora bit her lip. "No purple."

"But purple is a good color, isn't it?" I asked, dreading the answer in relation to my favorite color.

"Not for you. Sorry," she responded, smiling slightly. I like to think that her smile was slightly evil at that moment.

I decided not to pout—no need to give them the satisfaction. "So do I get any say in the matter?"

Both girls replied at the same time. "No."

Oh, well. I had a feeling that would be the case. Maybe I should have brought Tentomon along, for protection…against what? Two good friends trying to change my wardrobe in a drastic manner?

Yeah, I should have brought Tentomon along.

"So, how much money do you have?" Mimi asked as we entered the store.

"Um…" Do I lie and say not a lot? Or would she be able to sniff out the truth? I gulped. "Enough for a few shirts, if it comes down to it…"

"Good," she replied simply. Then she and Sora marched me over to the boy's section of the store.

I won't go into the details of incessantly being whisked into the changing room with an absurd amount of absurd clothing to try on. All I can say is, I'm glad Tai wasn't there. He'd have never let me live it down.

A few hours later, we left the store. I carried a bag of two shirts—a dark green tee with a strange design on it and a grey jacket that had been on sale—and a pair of jeans that apparently were better than my own worn pair. Mimi looked pleased with herself, as did Sora.

I sat down on a bench in the main thoroughfare of the shopping center. "Is shopping for clothing always this exhausting?"

Sora chuckled. "Depends. I think it's safe to say we overworked you a tad bit…"

I had to agree. Fifty shirts and twenty pairs of pants that had to pass under the the scrutiny of herself and her best friend.

"Well, this was a start. Next time, bring more money," Mimi stated. "Now, I still need to get new nail polish, and we should stop at that ice cream joint before we leave, and, Sora, you need to get your ears pierced, I saw these adorable _soccer ball _earrings that you'd just love…"

Luckily, we were interrupted by Joe. "Sora, Mimi…Izzy?" He walked over.

I stared at him. "What are you doing in the mall?" I asked, slightly confused.

"Returning a gift," he said, raising the plastic bag he was holding in explanation. "I was going to ask you the same thing…"

I sighed. "Mimi and Sora decided to give me a makeover. New wardrobe…"

"The start of one…" Mimi jutted in. "Which reminds me…Joe, why don't you wear that t-shirt we got last time?"

I looked at him inquisitively. "Sora and Mimi already did this with me…getting me a new wardrobe. Apparently my own clothing style isn't cool enough for their liking. I personally don't see the greatness of ripped up jeans and flimsy material, but..." he said, frowning darkly. "Four t-shirts." He leaned forward. "Not that I've worn them yet…"

I smiled slightly. "We're doomed, aren't we?"

Joe nodded. "As long as Tai and Matt don't get wind of this, I say we have a good chance of living…"

* * *

**Another sucky ending, but I'm too tired to focus on creating something better. I'm at the point of the night where I literally was stunned when I realized that polish (as in nail polish) and Polish (as in the language) were spelled the same.**

**Okay. Um, please review, give suggestions…eleven more chapters! I can make this! Give me a deadline, okay?**


	90. Yours Truly

**Hola. Idea from MysteryKeyblader16...major thanks are in order, since I never would have come up with this without his suggestion! Oh, and warning, this is following the dub characterization immensely...I think I got it right...Enjoy! And happy 2012!**

* * *

Dear Myotismon,

Hello…I hope you've been having a good time. Wait, no, I don't. I hope you've been having a perfectly rotten time. There, that's better. Or worse, whichever way you want to see it.

My name is Apocalymon…you may have heard of me? I would think so. You can't get much more infamous than I am. You'll never be as evil as me…*insert evil laugh here*. I am the epitome of evil, the cornerstone of everything bad in the world, the creator of injustice…and plugged toilets, but I'm not going to mention that. That's, ahem, not my crowning glory.

My point remains: you must have heard of me at sometime in your measly existence. If not…well, you've been missing out. I must say, I'm pretty good at poker. But that's not relevant. I was created from the hatred of all the unDigivolved Digimon…that's a long story…but you should remain wary of me. You are, after all, but a minion to my supreme dominance.

Now, Myotismon, I'm sure you are acquainted with a Digimon by the name of MetalSeadramon? Nice chap, if slightly eel-like. However, he told me a very interesting predicament—a Christmas party you hosted a while ago. I have no idea what Christmas is—nor do I have the intention of learning about it—but I was highly annoyed to learn that you invited all the 'rising evils' to the gathering. The Dark Masters, Devimon, even the slimebrain Etemon attended your little party.

But not I, the great and all consuming Apocalymon! You didn't even send a card and let me evilly ignore the RSVP and gatecrash. I had no knowledge of the event until MetalSeadramon let slip its existence in passing.

I'm sure this was all just a misunderstanding: an ignorance on your part and an overreaction on mine. However, I don't take well to being ignored. Unless you wish for the wrath of Total Annihilation…if so, go ahead and ignore me.

Hope you have a wonderful rest of your life until I can absorb you,

Yours truly,

Apocalymon

* * *

"Er…boss?" Demidevimon's voice floated down to where Myotismon sat still, the letter clenched tightly in his hand. "You look…paler than usual…"

Gatomon stepped next to him on the rafters. "Quiet, furball. He's writing a letter. And unless you want to say good-bye to your life, you should be quiet."

"And why is that, kitty?"

"Easy," she said, ignoring his annoyed tone. "You were in charge of the guest list."

* * *

Dear Apocalymon,

I'm in the process of world domination here, so this will be brief.

I am a very busy Digimon. I shall appropriate the blame of your absence at the party on one of my multiple Bakemon. Please do not write again: finding a way to the human world is time consuming, and I can't deal with idle correspondence.

Hoping you no longer feel as ignored as before—even if I never heard of you—sincerely,

Myotismon

* * *

**As I'm sure you know, Apacolymon will destroy the world unless you review. Not sure why...but I'll come up with a reason!**


	91. How Many

**Well, we're in for the last ten chapters. Wow. I really made it this far…please don't just stop reading now! We're almost done…and I won't take a break until it's all up and over!**

* * *

It was a simple enough day. Really, it was. Until Tai came along and asked a question that should never, ever be asked. Ever.

"So…how many Digimon does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"

The group was in Izzy's room, studying for tests, reading books, or talking quietly amongst each other. The Digimon were situated in the hallway, where they wouldn't disturb their friends. Or maybe it was so the Destined didn't disturb the Digimon…for the last fifteen minutes, a constant discussion had gone on about whether or not black was a color or just an absence of light, ending in Mimi throwing her textbook to the ground, crossing her arms, and glaring out the window.

That was when Tai decided they needed a change of conversation.

The other seven children blinked in unison. "Uh…why does that matter?" Matt asked, raising his eyebrow at the brunette.

He, in turn, shrugged. "I have no idea. But it's a good question, now that I think about it…"

"Isn't it a joke…?" Joe asked, setting his science book down and crossing his arms. "Aren't you supposed to have a witty answer now?"

"I'm being serious here! Really, how many Digimon would it take?"

Sora frowned. "Wouldn't it depend on which Digimon? I mean, I can't see a Monochromon screwing a lightbulb in, but I can't imagine Leomon having too much trouble…"

Stepping away from the window, Mimi looked at the unlit light up above them. "Well, is it day or night? Because, if it's day, they wouldn't need the light, and if it's night, they can't see the bulb to put it in there…"

"Now, Mimi, that's the wrong kind of logic for this situation…" Joe said quietly. When she turned to him, he flushed red. "I mean, that makes sense, but that's irrelevant…um, what I mean is…uh, never mind?"

Izzy chuckled. "So which Digimon would be putting it in, Tai?"

Tai shrugged. "Doesn't really matter…ours, I guess."

The eight Digidestined looked toward the shut door, imagining their partners with a light bulb between the eight of them. Needless to say, more than a few of the eight imagined the light bulb as already broken.

"Well, if it were ours…" Izzy started; TK interrupted:

"It wouldn't work out so well."

Matt grinned. "Yeah; we might need a sign warning against flying projectiles."

"They might be able to do it…" Kari said, though she didn't sound too hopeful.

"Well, let's see…there's three flying Digimon, but none of them have hands that could really manage a light bulb…Palmon might be able to use her Poison Ivy to get one up there, but I don't think she'd do too well with screwing it on…Gomamon, Gabumon, and Agumon would just break it as soon as it touched their hands…claws…whatever. Gatomon might have a chance, but I don't know…" Izzy surmised. He looked at his laptop and typed something quickly. "All in all, I think the chance of the light bulb being screwed into place is 1 to…70,438."

Tai whistled. "What if they used teamwork? Would that change the odds?"

This time Joe responded. "Patamon, Biyomon, or Tentomon could fly one of the others up there…though the flyer probably wouldn't be Agumon or Gabumon."

"I would say Gatomon would be good for it, but her claws are just a bit sharp," Sora said, thinking out loud. She seemed immersed in the hypothesized situation. "I guess it could work…"

Izzy typed on his laptop again, frowning at the numbers that appeared. "Now the odds are 1 to 20, 389 in their favor…"

Tai smiled widely. "One in twenty-thousand? We've beaten worse odds! Let's put this to the test!" He jumped up and made for the door. "Hey, Izzy, think your mom would mind us borrowing a lightbulb?"

The redhead, along with Joe, Matt, and Kari, all paled. "Wait, Tai!"

"Are you sure you want to put this to the test?" Joe asked, his eyes wide in horror at the prospect of eight small Digimon and one glass lightbulb.

"Yeah. Everything else has been the fate of the world. No big deal. This…we could actually get in trouble for…" Matt reminded them.

Tai thought for a moment, then shrugged. "But…"

"Why not?" Mimi said, coming to his rescue. "It might just work, and we can scratch that off the list of Digimon accomplishments…"

"There's a list?" Joe asked, scratching at his glasses. "Why wasn't I informed?"

"So, I say on with the experiment! It'd be good, right, Izzy—to see how they handle more delicate items?" Mimi continued, aiming her gaze at the boy on the computer.

Izzy looked down. "I suppose…but this might be too…destructive…"

"It's just a light bulb! It won't even cause the end of the world!" Tai exclaimed, shaking his head.

* * *

"Wait, so what do you want us to do?" Tentomon asked, his antennae sticking straight up. The Digimon and Digidestined were gathered in the front hallway, looking at a hanging light attached to the ceiling.

"A light bulb? That thing that looks like a bulb that gives off light?" Patamon asked, his brow furrowed in confusion at the new prospect.

"Yeah, you all just have to…screw it in place…up there," Sora said hesitantly. She pointed to the ceiling, to a light fixture.

Palmon blinked. "If you don't mind me asking…why?"

"No reason!" Tai answered. He flinched under Matt's glare. "What?"

Kari came back to the hallway, Izzy following. "We've got permission to try…"

"We need to take the lightbulb out of the light in the first place!" Mimi said, pointing at the light fixture up above. She jumped a few times, her arms extended above her head. "…a little help here?"

After several minutes of deliberation, Matt lifted Kari up, who unscrewed said lightbulb and handed it to Sora. She, in turn, gave it to Biyomon.

Unfortunately, Biyomon didn't have hold of it for long…but she can't be blamed for what happened.

"It's not my fault! Blame T.K.!" T.K. pouted at their leader. "Sorry, but you have to take one for the team."

"Tai, it was entirely your fault," Matt countered, half glaring, half grinning. "No one else touched it."

"But T.K. pushed me!"

"Because I wanted to see! Joe was standing in front of me!" the young boy responded.

"Oh, sure, blame the tall kid with glasses," the blue-haired boy replied sarcastically.

"Yeah, well…Biyomon wouldn't have dropped the lightbulb if _someone_ hadn't given it to her in the first place!" Tai countered, his hands still up.

Sora scoffed. "But I didn't fall on top of her! That was all you!"

"Matt could have caught it. Instead, he just jumped back!"

"You're kidding, right? I told you we should have had signs warning against flying projectiles!"

"Hey!" Tai scratched his head. "Mimi's guilty since she came up with the idea to use this light…" he ignored her cries of protest; "Izzy's guilty since it's his house. And Kari's guilty by association…"

"So then we're all to blame?" Izzy asked, smirking slightly as he and Joe bent down to pick up the broken pieces of glass.

"Exactly!"

"Tai, you're getting us a new lightbulb."

"…exactly…"

The Digimon watched in amusement. "How many humans does it take to break a lightbulb?"

* * *

**Sorry for the delay…this one took forever to write, but I'm semi-pleased. This was a random idea that popped in my head, and it seemed fitting…thought I think I overcomplicated it by a lot…**

**Review, or you'll get hit by a flying projectile! Somehow!**


	92. Pansies

**Okay. I'm going to ask you a question. Remember way back when I wrote that chapter with Joe and Tai at the theme park? Yeah, I said 'way back when.' That poor neglected story idea…well, because I needed the Digidestined to be someplace…read on!**

* * *

_Digi.5, same day as when Joe and Tai (and the rest of the unmentioned Digidestined) went to the local-ish theme park. Except we're not at the theme park, are we?_

* * *

"Atten-hut!"

It was a nice day out. A very nice day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the curtains were on fire…well, not really, but that would have been a pretty classic opening, wouldn't it?

Anyways…a nice day. Therefore, as usually happens on a nice day—and, as mentioned, this was a pretty nice day—everyone who was anyone was at the theme park. Roller coasters, giant swings, Ferris Wheels, all the cotton candy you could eat—paradise.

Unfortunately, not everyone who wanted to go was allowed.

A group of eight beings, known in this world under the broad term 'Digimon,' were stuck in Sora Takenouchi's house. The reasoning for that placement is simple—it was hot outside, and instead of killing the air conditioning bill in any other random establishment, why not stay cool and relaxed in a place already air conditioned to keep the flowers downstairs in top form? Makes sense, huh?

To us, yeah, but not to the eight Digimon. Spending time with flowers was not their idea of fun. Now was the time to do something never done before by any Mon…

"Atten-hut! Okay, squadron, we're moving in T-minus twenty minutes and counting. If you have any last wishes, you might want to get them out in the open before it's too late."

Gatomon yawned and stretched, looking more cat-like than normal as she did so. "Who are you, a general?"

Gomamon stuck his head up. "Why, yes. Yes, I am."

"In whose army, if you don't mind me asking?"

"My own."

"And where is your fabled army, then?" Gatomon asked.

Gomamon motioned behind him with his head. "Them."

"Who?"

"Gabumo—come on, guys! We were going to wage war on the pansies! Not take a nap!" Gabumon, Agumon, and Patamon were all on the floor behind him, leaning against each other in apparent slumber. At Gomamon's exclamation, Gabumon and Agumon opened their eyes bleakly.

"We can take them! They're just pansies, right?" Agumon said. He leaned forward, as if to get up; however, gravity brought him down heavily. "Umf. Maybe we could take a five-minute break?"

"But the war hasn't even begun yet." Gomamon shook his head. "Gabumon? You'll help, right?"

Unlike his dino-counterpart, the wolf-Digimon made no move to change position. "Let's wait until Matt gets back…in, say, a few hours? It's not like the flowers can advance too far…"

"Oh, yeah, they're frozen in fright, I'm sure," Gatomon snickered. "Where are Biyomon and Palmon?"

"Creating the Pansy Alliance, I think," Patamon said, his eyes still closed, one of his bat-like ears draped over his stomach like a blanket. "They went that way T-minus two minutes ago." One of his paws pointed to his left before dropping down. He let out a slight snore.

Gomamon let out a huff. "See? They're going to liberate the pansies, and then we'll have a war on our flippers! And when we get overrun by flower chains and petal bullets, it'll be your fault, you sleeping Mon!"

The only response he got from those three was a quiet, "…I like flower chains…" from Gabumon. The seal turned to Gatomon. "Want to be in my army? I would make an example of these three, but it would be too much of an effort to get them coherent enough."

Gatomon smirked. "I can see that. Hmmm. Sure. But I'm general. You're too…nice…to run an army properly."

"…I think that's a compliment…sure, you can be general."

"Good." Gatomon stood up straight, her eyes glinting. "Okay, Mon! Up and Addams!" She put her claws to her mouth and let out a piercing whistle; the three napping Digimon sprung to their feet, although Patamon still had his eyes closed. "Atten-hut!" They snapped to attention—that is, Agumon and Gabumon stood straight up, while Patamon attempted to balance on his hind legs, using his wing ears as support every now and then. "Good. Role call. Gabumon!"

"Here. Ma'am!"

"Agumon!"

"Here. Ma'am."

"Patamon!"

With a flop, he landed on his face, his eyes finally opening. "Here, sir…ma'am."

Gatomon allowed herself a victorious smile before continuing. "Gomamon!"

"You know I'm here…present, Ma'am!" he said, jumping back from her glare.

"Good. Tentomon!"

Nobody answered.

"Tentomon?"

"Oh, the Pansy Alliance recruited him…" Patamon said as he got up again, this time on all fours.

"What boy would join a flower power group?" Gomamon asked.

Gabumon chuckled. "Well, they do smell nice…"

"Maybe he was kidnapped?" Agumon asked innocently.

"That's always a possibility," Gatomon responded, her expression dark. "They'll be trying to cut down in our numbers…"

"So, we eat and then get revenge?" Agumon inquired hopefully; after all, he got one thing right…

However, his latest question didn't deserve a reply. "Okay, Mon! We will move to attack the Pansy Alliance, and reclaim our beetled friend!" Gatomon smiled slightly. "Here's the plan…"

* * *

The dining room in the Takenouchi household was relatively barren. A glass cabinet with porcelain in it sat in one corner, while two potted plants hung from the ceiling. A small table with three chairs sat in the middle of the room. It was under here that the members of the Pansy Alliance were holding refuge.

"Okay. The others will have caught wind of our 'treachery' by now. Expect an onslaught at any time."

"So long as they don't break the china…Sora's mom quite likes it…" Biyomon reflected. Louder, she said, "Okay, Pansy, what's our plan?"

"Well, Blossom, we have to...Tigerlily, pay attention!"

Tentomon looked at the two females. "Why must we all have flower-related names?"

"Tigerlily, we're the Pansy Alliance. Not the Beetle Alliance. We needed code names. So there," Palmon—Pansy—responded. "Now, pay attention! The others will be here soon!"

"…and she said this was for the good of the world…" Tentomon muttered, his antennae lowering slightly.

* * *

"Three…two…wait for it…one…ready…set…one moment…another moment…"

"Gomamon, who's general again?" Gomamon fell silent; Gatomon lifted her paw, counting down. "Three. Two. One…Attack!"

* * *

By the time the Digidestined came home from the park, it was nearing dark. The Takenouchi house was silent.

Too silent.

The group paused by the door. "Do you think…maybe they fell asleep? Watching television or staring at dust or something?" Joe inquired, looking anxiously at the door.

"Maybe a nuclear bomb fell…?" Izzy responded in a similar matter.

"What if they ran away?" Tai asked, worried.

Matt snorted. "It's just quiet. That's not illegal. They're not always loud."

The seven sets of eyes looking at him seemed to question that last statement.

Sora stepped forward with her key. "Okay, enough anticipation. Guys, we're home!" she called out as the door swung open.

To more silence.

"…this is like some creepy ghost movie…" Mimi said, shivering, as they entered the house. As if to accentuate her point, a door swung open in front of them. "…see? If we go in there, our souls will be sucked out!"

"Don't be melodramatic, Mimi. I'm sure it's just a coincidence," Sora responded. With her in the lead, they entered the room.

"…Is it just me, or did the Flower Squad get busy in here?" Tai asked, kind of stunned. The dining room was covered with potted plants of every color flower. Well, not every flower. Specifically…

"We're not the Flower Squad, though nice try. We're the Pansy Alliance," a voice came from somewhere in the room.

Izzy squinted, trying to see into the room. "Was that…Palmon?"

"No! My name's Pansy! There is no Palmon here!"

Kari smiled slightly. "Palmon, we know what your voice sounds like."

"No, you don't!"

"Biyomon? What's going on?" T.K. asked.

"I'm Blossom, not Biyomon! And we conquered our enemies, and claimed this sacred land as our own!" Some of the ferns shook as something appeared to move behind them. "Tigerlily, aren't you going to support this?"

"…I'd rather not…"

"Tentomon?" Joe asked. "So…you're now called 'Tigerlily'…that's not strange at all."

"I'd prefer not to comment, if that's all right," came Tentomon's voice, sounding slightly embarrassed.

"Okay, so what's going on?" Tai asked. He made to wade into the sea of flowers—however, he thought better of it and instead flicked on the light.

Palmon, Biyomon, and Tigerlily—er, Tentomon—were hiding behind a set of tall flowers, looking slightly sheepish. Palmon had on a bandana with 'Protect the Pansies!' written on it around her forehead.

"Um…hi. Pansy just left. That way. If you want to find who was talking to you beforehand…" she said. "Oh, I'm rambling…um…hi."

"Um…not to be rude, but where's the other Digimon? And why are there flowers littering the ground?" Izzy asked.

Tentomon flew up and practically pounced on his partner. "I didn't want to, I swear! They made me!"

"Traitor!" Biyomon called out. "No cookies for you!"

"Are you going to answer us or not?"

"Oh…um, well, we tied up the insurgents under the table. We…um, well, Gomamon was getting mad at spending the evening with flowers for company. So Palmon and I decided to protect them from his upcoming attack. Thus, we became the Pansy Alliance."

Matt and Joe looked under the table; sure enough, the other five Digimon were tied with flower chains. They quickly unraveled it, and the insurgents ran out.

"Okay, when did you have time to make flower chains?" Joe asked, frowning.

"This isn't over, Pansy Lover. We'll win next time; wait and see!" Gomamon glared at Palmon, who glared back.

"You…had a fight…over flowers…" Tai said, stunned almost speechless.

Gatomon summed up the situation as she jumped up on the flower-littered table. "We were bored, and it was a good idea at the time."

"…maybe we shouldn't trust you alone. Ever."

"…that might be a good idea."

* * *

**Please say that wasn't too much like _Pepperoni or War_? I tried not to focus on the battle, and instead on the before and after. I thought it was fun.**

**And now I'm slaphappy. I accidentally misspelled 'left' as 'leaft'…I laughed so hard… 'leaft' looks like 'leaf,' which is part of a plant, which is the focus of this story…haha, I'm crazy, I know.**

**Review! Or you'll be defeated by…by…pansies! And yes, as we proved, this is a major threat!**


	93. A Long Day

**I really do have an excuse this time. I'm not telling you it, but I don't feel guilty. Well, slightly, but not for being late.**

* * *

It was going to be a long day. It was eight in the morning, and I already knew that fact would hold true. I didn't have any news caster stating, "Caution: Matt Ishida will have an irksome and overly lengthy twenty-four hours ahead of him." And it's not like there could be scientific evidence to support my belief.

I just _knew _it would be a long day.

I never thought I would wish I were wrong.

* * *

"Matt, can you go over to the store and pick up some milk? Gabumon finished up the last carton, and I need to rush to get to work on time. Thanks!"

I sighed and got up. I'd been awake for a few hours now, but…well, it _is _the weekend; officially, I just woke up now. At…8:13. Despite that being too early for shopping missions.

* * *

"But it's for a good cause!" my partner reminded me as he handed me a pair of mittens, which I quickly threw to the ground.

"It's cold and windy, and way too early!" I responded, finishing lacing up my shoe.

"But milk is needed! You can make brownies and cookies and milkshakes and…"

He was going to be doing this for a while. I tuned him out as I slipped a grey sweater on over my head.

"…and what would cereal be like without it?"

"Dry?" I asked, adjusting the collar.

"Exactly! Dry and…and…and not soaked! And that's just not right!"

"Gabumon, for just this once, I won't question your motives. If you don't question my hatred of milk at this moment."

"Why do you hate milk?"

"It's ruining my life."

"But…but…oh, never mind. Here." He handed me the mittens again, which I promptly threw to the side again. "Why don't you put them on?"

"It's not cold enough for mittens."

He scratched his head. "But you wear gloves during the middle of the summer. Why not during the middle of winter?"

"I…oh, look, a flying pig!" I said, pointing to the living room. As Gabumon turned to look that way, I ducked out of the apartment.

"What? I don't see Patamon…hey!"

* * *

I was free from my Nanny-mon telling me what to do; it was 8:47.

I arrived at the store at 9:05. I bought the horrible milk at 9:11. Two minutes later, I was walking down the sidewalk, whistling in the cold. Only an hour had passed since I had woken up.

The problem was, it was cold. Maybe I should have listened to Gabumon after all. The cold milk carton didn't help the situation at all. I think it did more harm than help. Nevertheless, by 9:30 exactly, after somehow managing to get stuck behind every broken crosswalk sign in existence, I got home.

I put the milk in the fridge. Gabumon was watching television. I decided to join him.

* * *

At 11:59, after what had to have been the fiftieth cooking show, I groaned. "I'm going to die. From watching cooking shows. How pathetic would that be?"

"I'll die from my stomach rumbling so much…" Gabumon responded, looking wistfully at the screen. I grabbed the remote and turned it off. "Hey! They were going to make deep-fried sushi!"

"That's a paradox," I retorted. "Come on. We're going out."

Gabumon stood up. "Out where? To the zoo? Biyomon went there…she said it was a ton of fun."

"No, it's too cold for a zoo."

"Oh. So where are we going to go?" The Digimon grabbed an overlarge red jacket and pulled it over his head, careful not to get it stuck on his horn.

* * *

At 12:14, we arrived at our destination. "The music store? Really, Matt? Don't you have too many CDs as it is?"

"Gabumon, it was either buy a new CD or death by cooking shows. I chose the former; can you blame me?" I waltzed in, my horned friend following. Fortunately, we were going into a music store; his horn could just be a new hair fad going out amongst rockers. His height and coloring were other matters, but it was too cold for people to stare too long.

I left the store, Gabumon in tow, at 12:32, a new CD in my sweater pocket.

"Isn't that Izzy?"

I looked up, to where my partner was pointing. Across the street was a coffee store; it was pretty packed as people came in to grab a hot chocolate before continuing in the weather. And in middle of the swarm of people seeking warmth was the red head.

"Hey, Iz, what're you doing here?" It was now 12:35, and the coffee shop was blissfully warm.

Izzy looked up, surprised. He blinked when he saw Gabumon. "Hello, Matt, Gabumon. Take a seat." Neither of us said no to that.

"I'm…well, I'm…promise you won't laugh? Or tell Tai to tease me?" he said, looking around worriedly.

"Not a problem," I responded, crossing my arms. "Just tell us already."

Izzy sighed and nodded. "I'm comparing the Wi-fi signal at all the coffee joints in the general area. This one has a slower connection speed than the one down by the bookstore."

Now it was my turn to blink. "Why are you comparing Wi-fi?"

"No reason. I'm bored. So I thought getting out of the house would do some good. But when I tried to get back in…" he brought his voice down to a whisper, "Tentomon locked the door."

"Why would he do that?" Gabumon asked.

"He says that I spend too much time in my room, on my computer. He bet me five dollars that I wouldn't be able to last for five hours before coming back to the house. I intend to prove him wrong."

"Okay, then…he let you take out your laptop?" I asked, slightly incredulous. Tentomon knew better than to let Izzy have his laptop and expect him to do something other than go on it.

Izzy grinned. "Well, Patamon was in the neighborhood…it was a close call, but we successfully evaded Tentomon's attempt to destroy my life."

"…it's 12:43. How long ago was this?"

"Two hours, twelve minutes, and…seventeen seconds ago. I'll make it! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get off to the next location." He stood up. "Nice seeing you two, though. What were you doing out here?"

"…uh…trying not to die from boredom…"

"Good luck. You're going to need it," he replied as we left the shop.

* * *

1:04. Home sweet home.

It was going to be a long day…

* * *

**I think it's safe to say that that was beyond random. Oh, well. I had an idea, um…about a year ago, actually…well, I had wanted to use two random Digidestined who never really interact. AKA, Matt and Izzy; they came to mind as being underused as having a conversation. And I wanted them in a coffeeshop. For no apparent reason, other than a coffee shop was there. And they were in it.**

**Yeah. Review, or it'll be a long day for you too!**


	94. Cosplaying

**Thanks to Tache for this idea! And even more thanks for him making sure I actually wrote it! Just warning you all, I'm a complete fail at keeping promises. I need to work on that. Oh. And writing helps get rid of stress. I never realized that before.**

* * *

_After 'Breadcrumbs'…in the Kamiya apartment…_

* * *

"You two…um…well, Kari and I will go and…er…find…"

"Izzy!"

"Yeah! Izzy! He'll know what to do! I think…"

"Do you want us to come with you?"

Tai shook his head vigorously. "No!" He lowered his voice as he ran over and pulled the blinds closed in the room. "No, you're too big."

"Are you calling me fat?" Wargreymon asked, looking at his armoured form anxiously. "I didn't eat all of the cake, that was Gatomon!"

"Was not!" Angewomon replied, crossing her arms. "Don't lie in front of an angel!"

A shrill whistle caused the two Digimon to stop their fight. Kari had her whistle in her mouth. She let it fall when the two fell silent.

Tai cleared his throat. "That's better. Now, we'll be back in ten minutes. Well, maybe more, but that's not the point. Just stay out of trouble until we get back."

"And try to Dedigivolve!" Kari added. The two Kamiyas waved at their Digimon as they quickly exited the apartment.

WarGreymon grumbled. "Great. We're stuck like this. For forever."

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic," Angewomon retorted. "We'll be back to normal in a little bit."

"How do you know that?"

"I don't. I'm trying to be optimistic here."

The giant dinosaur-like Digimon nodded. He looked around the small apartment, his eyes finally settling on the kitchen. "Do you think Tai'll mind…" With a look around him quickly, he started walking toward the refrigerator.

"Stop right there," Angewomon commanded, rolling her eyes. "I think they'll notice it when your mammoth claws break something."

"But I'm not a mammoth…" Wargreymon stopped talking when he noticed Angewomon put a finger to her lip.

Someone was at the door. "Tai, Kari, I'm home! I was out shopping, and you wouldn't believe the line for fresh fish…"

Silently, Angewomon reached for the door and moved the lock into place. WarGreymon gave her a worried glance. She tiptoed forward, more gliding with her wings than actually touching the floor, heading down the hallway. For Tai and Kari's room.

A loud creak caused her to flinch and stop mid-step/glide.

The upright dinosaur was glaring at the ground. He took another step. _Creak. _The angel flinched again and looked to the door fearfully.

"Tai, Kari, I can hear you in there. Please open the door; I can't seem to find my key…oh, here it is, in my pocket! Silly me!" The lock could be heard being fiddled with; with a click, it slid open, and the door swung aside. Yuuko Kamiya stepped into her apartment building. "Funny, I could have sworn someone was in here…Tai? Kari?"

Angewomon and WarGreymon held their breath. Mrs. Kamiya walked around the living room a few times before shrugging her shoulders and heading into the kitchen.

* * *

The two Digimon exhaled quietly. They were situated in Tai and Kari's bedroom; needless to say, the Ultimate and the Mega, along with the bunk bed, led to a rather tight fit. "That was a close…"

_Achoo!_

"…call. Nevermind. We're doomed," Angewomon muttered, glaring at WarGreymon. He shrugged.

"What? Your wings were in my face!"

"You couldn't have held it in for two minutes?" she retorted.

"Excuse me?" came a voice from the children's bedroom door.

The Digimon remained still and silent.

"Who are you?"

Silence.

"What are you doing in my home?"

Crickets chirping.

"Why are you standing on one foot?"

WarGreymon came down with a crash. "…I was…trying to act like a toy animal…like I'm supposed to…in these…situations…" Next to him, Angewomon grimaced.

"Situations…where are Kari and Tai? And why are you in here?" Yuuko asked, waving a spatula.

"Kari and Tai are…" Angewomon paused, trying to think of an answer. "They're going to get Izzy."

"And we're here because…a monster was spotted, and we were needed to protect the city…and…and…why aren't you scared of us?" WarGreymon asked, getting back to his feet. During this entire exchange, Yuuko had looked more curious than annoyed or even scared. Now, she looked amused, as if she understood an inside joke.

"Maybe she's going crazy from shock?" Angewomon asked, slightly worried, as Yuuko laughed.

"You two are too cute for words!" she said.

"…cute?" WarGreymon questioned, trying to catch a glimpse of his reflection in the window. "I wouldn't mind frightening or death-defying…but cute?"

Yuuko smiled at the creatures. "What are you, Cosplayers? Is that what it's called, playing dress up now-a-days? Let me see…Matt, right? And Mimi? Though, Mimi, that costume…I wouldn't go out in public in it. How'd you get so tall?"

"…cosplaying?"

"…I don't look a thing like Matt…"

"Oh, yes, you do. You even sound like him!"

"…no, I don't…"

Yuuko clapped her hands together. "Is that why Tai and Kari are in their rooms so much? Are you going to a convention or something? What show is this supposed to be for?"

"…show?"

"Well, I doubt Tai would create something for a book, no matter how good it is."

Angewomon blinked. "You…you think we're humans? Dressed up as…"

"An angel! And a rhino! Oh, you're doing great, Mimi. You'll be an actress when you grow up, just look at how darling you are! Though, really," Yuuko tutted, "you're way too young to wear something like that. Find a different character, maybe…here, I'll go and get you cookies!"

"But…"

"Don't worry, it won't ruin your costumes! Wait right there!" With that, she left the room, nearly colliding with Tai, Kari, and Izzy. "Oh, hello! Matt and Mimi are in your room waiting. I'll grab you all something to snack on!"

The three Digidestined let her pass before running into the room, nearly tripping on one another.

* * *

"I'm back! Cookies…where'd those two go?"

Tai sat on his bed with a toy orange dinosaur next to him; Kari leaned against the wall; Izzy looked up from his laptop; a white toy cat was on Tai's desk. But no sign of the angel or other super-big being were visible.

"Uh…they had to…get their costumes…dry cleaned!" Tai said, looking at Izzy for help.

The redhead cleared his throat. "They just stopped by to show us, but now they have to get to the convention…and get their costumes dry cleaned, as Tai said." He glared at Tai, who shrugged.

"Oh…well, I want to see photos when they come back! It completely took me by surprise…I actually thought there were two monsters in this room for a moment!" Yuuko laughed and set down a plate of green cookies. "Well, have fun. Tai, be careful about that doll; it looks like it's going to fall off of the bed." With that, she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Agumon fell forward on his snout. Tai rolled his eyes. "You couldn't have waited two more seconds to get to the cookies?"

"Hey, being a Mega for an hour is exhausting!"

Kari came forward. "Thanks for getting them back to normal, Izzy!"

"No problem. It was a simple change in the genetic code, a quick look at the pattern was all it took…not that any of you could do it without my expertise…"

"You erased a line on that program of yours," Gatomon said, sniffing at the cookies. She wrinkled her nose and leapt up onto the top bunk.

Izzy glared at her. "It was an important line that corrupted your data, keeping you stuck in your highest Digivolutions." He shut down his laptop. "Crisis averted. I've always wanted to say that."

"Tai, does WarGreymon look like a rhino?"

* * *

**That was a lot of fun. That's all I'm saying.**


	95. Conformity

**Guess what? I started writing the final chapter! The end is near! Expect me to be really sappy when we get to it. Until then, you're left with all the randomness I can muster. Be happy. And afraid.  
**

**Maybe just afraid…**

**Oh, and this would have been up yesterday, but FFN glitched on me...ugh. Oh, well. It's here now...**

* * *

_Digi.5…inside the school…_

* * *

"Say 'cheese!'" the cameraman yelled as he ducked behind the tripod.

Everyone assembled said _'cheese.'_

Everyone except for one select individual.

* * *

"_Now, I have a proposal to make…" Izzy said, smirking._

"Kamiya!" the teacher said, a frown creasing his face.

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you smile?"

"_And why should I listen to you?"_

"_Because, Tai, twenty dollars could be yours for the taking…"_

The boy pretended to think for a moment. Then he shrugged. "I will not allow conformity to turn me into a mindless drone of the human race."

The teacher blinked. "What…? Actually, never mind. Yagami, smile this time, please." He nodded at the cameraman.

The man nodded back and turned some dials on the camera. "Say 'cheese.'"

A flash filled the gymnasium.

_Tai leaned forward, his interest sparked. "What do I have to do?"_

"_Well, it wouldn't be just you…that'd be too simple…"_

The teacher went over to examine the newest attempt. His brow furrowed as he looked at it. "Ishida? May I ask why you chose to refrain from smiling this time?"

The blond shook his head. "You wouldn't understand," he said in a monotonous voice.

"Listen, I know you're almost a teenager, but…never mind. Come on. We need to get a picture for the yearbook!" He once again nodded to the camera. "Go ahead.

"Say 'cheese,'" the man responded, with less enthusiasm than the last two times.

"_I don't care what you do to accomplish this. So long as it works."_

"Now let's take a look…Takenouchi! What is the meaning of this?" the irritated teacher asked.

She bit back a smile. "What Tai and Matt said, sir."

"But Matt barely said anything at all, and Tai said something about mindless…" He bit back a scream. "You know what? Never mind."

"Fourth time's the charm?" asked the cameraman, frowning.

The teacher sighed. "Okay. If anyone else has a smart remark, or…or…or doesn't want to smile…well…just…just smile, okay? We need this picture!"

"Say 'cheese…'"

"_So, is it a deal?"_

"_Deal!"_

"Oh, much better!" said the teacher as he looked at the photo, somewhat relieved to find that everyone was smiling. "Okay, class. You're free to go to lunch. Thank you for your…er, cooperation…" He didn't look at the three disruptions to the cooperation, however; instead, he opted for muttering about what he would do if he had more power in the school administration.

* * *

"We should do that more often!" Tai said as he, Matt, and Sora trailed behind the rest of the class as they made their way to the cafeteria.

Matt glanced at him. "'I will not allow conformity to'…whatever? Do you even know what you were saying?"

Tai smirked. "Hey, I'm smart enough to understand that!"

"I wouldn't count on it," Sora said. "How you managed to talk me into that…"

"You enjoyed it; don't say you didn't! Did you see his expression? And I get twenty dollars from it!" Tai said proudly. Matt and Sora stopped behind him.

"What do you mean, 'you' get twenty dollars?" Matt asked, crossing his arms.

"Well, I made the deal with Izzy. Therefore, it's my money," the brunette responded, sticking out his tongue.

"But…you had us…wait, what 'exactly' was the deal?" Matt sputtered.

Tai skipped forward a few steps. "To see if I could make the two of you do something completely random for no apparent reason."

Matt and Sora looked at each other, anger and slight confusion clear on their faces. "But...you said it was about...cameras...and..."

Tai grinned as he continued to walk forward. "Now, what had I said about conformity turning people into mindless drones?"

* * *

**Before anyone complains, I am in high school…blame AP Lit class. 'Conformity' means acceptance or compliance. Going with the flow, in other words. Now do you get it?**

**Blame brownies. And AP practice tests. They'll be the cause for the end of the world, just you wait and see!**

**Review, or…or…wait, that's conformity, isn't it? Well…uh…but it isn't, because only a few people review…I'm confused…just review, 'kay?**


	96. Intervention

**Personally, I loved this idea from _animelover_inf_. She called me a few weeks ago and suggested I do an intervention scene. Well, one Digidestined particularly came to mind…**

* * *

_Digi.5. Anytime, really…well, daytime, but that's almost always a given…_

* * *

They were waiting in my room.

I blinked as I shrugged off my coat. When had the eight of us…well, eight plus eight, if you want to be specific…decided to hang out? When had I volunteered my house? It was someone else's turn, surely…

"Hey, guys…what's up?" I asked as I entered my territory. I was met with blank faces. A sudden chill swept through the air…I turned to see the door close behind me. "…what's going on…?"

"Izzy. You have a problem," Biyomon said in her airy voice.

I blinked. "What do you mean?"

Matt spoke next. "We've been noticing if for a while. But now it's time to act on it. It must stop."

"…okay, then. Please stop being so mysterious."

"We're here, all of your friends, to help you through this troubling time," TK said, looking down, and then back up, from a little note card in his hand.

"Guys, what's up?" I said, trying to laugh this off.

"Izzy Izumi, it's time for change," Mimi said, her voice as low as she could make it.

"…please say this isn't what I think it is…"

Mimi continued. "Izzy, it's time for…an intervention."

It was quiet for a few moments. I didn't know what to say. The first thing that came to mind was to laugh. The second thing was to kick them out of my house until I thought of something better to do; I don't think they'd have liked either suggestion, however.

Then something interrupted the solemn silence.

Laughter. But not mine.

It was coming from Joe's bag, which was lying on my bed next to his grim-faced partner.

"Gomamon!" Tai squealed as the seal poked his head out of the bag.

"What?" he asked as he squirmed completely out, moving toward the huddle of Digimon gathered on the floor. "I couldn't help myself!"

Joe was shaking his head. "And that's why you were in the bag in the first place…"

"You could have just left me at home," Gomamon retorted.

"But…" Joe tried to come up with a good excuse. "You were driving my brother insane, and…and…and Sora said we should all come!"

I raised an eyebrow at Sora, who looked down, looking as though she were trying to stop from smiling. "Well, all the shows say that you need all of the person's friends present during the meeting…"

"So, you organized this, Sora?" I asked.

"No!" she said quickly. "I mean, yes, but…but we all agreed to it! It was a group effort!"

"Izzy, we're just trying to help you," Tentomon said. I couldn't tell if he was happy or embarrassed.

I sighed. They seemed adamant about this 'intervention' thing. "Okay. Um…what are you intervening on?"

They all spoke together. "The laptop."

"…my…laptop?"

Tai nodded. "Yep. The good ol' pineapple thing. I know it's been through thick and thin, but…"

"Well, Iz, the thing is…it takes up more of your time than school work does," Matt completed.

"Hey, it's not my fault if I actually use time management to complete my assignments, unlike those of you who procrastinate until the night it's due…"

"Izzy! This is your intervention, not ours!" Mimi scolded. I rolled his eyes and mimed zipping my mouth closed, pocketing the imaginary key. Have it their way…I nodded for them to continue.

"Well…" Sora started, clearing her throat, "you know you have a problem." I wanted to protest, but my lips were locked shut, after all. "We're here to…um…help you get through this and get…on the mend…" She looked around the room. "Uh…well, now…you can hear from some of your friends…about…why you should reconsider what you've been doing…"

She prodded Tai in the arm; he lightly slapped her hand away and sat up straight, looking at a notecard—the same one that TK had read off of earlier. "Izzy," he started. "I've known you for a while. I even got you to come to that summer camp instead of that computer workshop. But everywhere you've gone, that computer's followed…camp, the Digiworld…"

"If you thought I was going to leave my laptop on the beach in some mysterious land..." I interrupted. Tai glared at me; I sighed and pretended to zip my lips again.

"As I was saying," he continued, "camp, the Digiworld—you two are like a set of conjoined twins." Then he sat back, looking pleased with himself.

Apparently, Sora was as confused as I was. "Is that all?" she asked. He nodded.

"You didn't give me a lot of time for this…"

"I told you this morning! Your big analogy is conjoined twins?" Sora turned away from our esteemed leader and took a deep breath. "Matt, your turn."

And thus they went around, each saying something—trying to make me see the error of my ways, I assume. Matt discussed how little he knew of me; Joe complained about my random spewing of facts; Mimi and Sora all but burst into tears trying to convince me that I could do so much more without my laptop. TK didn't say anything at all, instead opting for staring at a box of chips on my computer stand, left over from the previous night. And all Kari said was that the laptop _did _take up the majority of my time.

Throughout this 'heartfelt' exchange, the Digimon sat on the ground in various states of amusement. I'm sure they would have been forced to contribute to my reprimandings if they had been able to keep straight faces. As that was impossible—they were all but rolling on the ground, receiving several annoyed kicks from Sora and Matt—they instead opted for sending pitying looks at me. The exception to this was Biyomon, who, I assume, had helped Sora look into interventions.

Finally, I raised my hand to speak. "Excuse me, but can I intervene here?"

Sora nodded, so I took my chances. " I…appreciate all of this." I was lying there, sure, but they didn't need to know this. "But I'm not going to give up my laptop because you all are telling me about it. I know I spend a lot of time on it…"

Joe groaned. He glared at Sora. "I told you he would say that."

She glared at me, as if it were my fault. Maybe it was. "But…we did everything! What did we forget?"

Matt was the one who answered this question. "Sora, you forgot that this is Izzy. What can we expect."

They slowly got up, one by one, offering apologetic smiles and pats on the back. I was…thoroughly confused. "You're leaving?"

"This is a lost cause," Tai responded. "We're getting out before you realize Agumon and Gabumon ate all the snacks in this house."

"A lost cause…wait, what about the snacks?"

"Maybe we should try an intervention on Agumon and food next time," Kari suggested, causing the orange dinosaur to hide behind his partner in fright.

They filed out of my room. "…that's all…?"

"You're hopeless, Izzy," was all Mimi had to say.

"Oh, and we're meeting here tomorrow before we head to the park," TK added as he shut the door behind him.

I blinked at the closed door. "…okay…Tentomon, what just happened?"

He stared at me as he fluttered up to sit on my bed. "A lot of things. And none of them especially productive. We'll leave it at that, shall we?"

I nodded, setting my laptop down on my desk, resisting the urge to look up mental illnesses.

* * *

**Nobody comment on any of that. I enjoyed it. That's what matters, right? I know it was fast at the end, but holding an entire intervention would lose so much humor! They're supposed to be serious! I'm not trying to mock interventions as a whole…I just think they can be perceived as rather funny…**

**Oh, and sorry for the lack of Digimon involvement. I had plenty of things planned, but, as already mentioned, lack of steam at the end there. If I ever update for Type again, I'll mention this in passing…that could be fun…maybe?**

**Um. Yeah. Don't make me hold an intervention for you and not reviewing! Review!**


	97. More Tutoring

**I'm sorry that this took so long…I just haven't been in the mood. But, yippee, this is so close to being over! Is that a 'yippee' statement? I think it is…**

* * *

_After 'Chapter 56: Tutoring'…_

* * *

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. That much I can guarantee you.

It wouldn't have happened if I hadn't gotten that stupid sprain during soccer practice. I would have gone and won the game, and the entire school would have cheered for me, and I would be exempt from this humiliation.

It wouldn't have happened if Izzy hadn't won that science fair and had to go to district with his project about whatever it was about—I would have asked, but that was giving in to him, and I wasn't on good terms with him after he so blatantly ruined my life like this.

And, sure, it wouldn't have happened if I had actually done the work the day it was assigned, or attempting to pay attention in class, or actually learning it last year like I was supposed to…but while the first two suppositions might be over exaggerations, the last one definitely is…

Still, the fact remained: I had a test tomorrow over geography, and I had no idea what the material was over. This was supposedly a review unit from last year, but I didn't remember a thing from then. Nor did I have any hope of catching up in time without a little help.

My search for a tutor was pretty disheartening at first. Kari obviously couldn't teach it; there _is _a difference between our ages, despite her apparent maturity over me. Sora was going to that soccer tournament; the traitor Izzy had chosen that science fair over helping me. Joe had a test himself he was freaking over; Matt was spending a brother night with TK, and didn't respond to my begging at all.

In fact, all of my friends—Digidestined or otherwise—were busy with their own lives.

All except one.

And, unfortunately for me, she was more than eager to help me catch up again.

I opened the door to a joyful knock—well, if a knock on a wooden door can be described as joyful…

"Hello, Tai!" Mimi said happily, barging past me and into the room, pulling a pink backpack behind her. "You ready for homework?"

I decided not to answer that question. "Hello, Mimi."

She plopped down on the couch. "It's so lucky that my class just finished going over this subject! Don't you love school?"

No. Duh. I hadn't thought that she had felt so enthusiastically about our place of purgatory, either. But I decided not to ruin her bad mood—there was always that slim chance that she really could help me with this—and instead nodded. "'Course."

Settling down, she patted the pillow next to her. "Come on! Let's get started!"

I don't think I have stated this fact yet, but I will now: I was doomed. Mimi wasn't stupid, per say, but…well, I think her good grades came from hanging around Izzy too much. Have I mentioned how much I hated him at the moment, for leaving me with this option?

Anyway, despite my qualms, my younger friend appeared more than eager to impart the knowledge unto myself. She took out a multitude of books and folders from that pink backpack—explaining that she had emptied it of the nail polish vials earlier to fit everything else into it. "And I have all of Izzy's notes…I would use mine, but I had been writing to a friend at the time, and I don't want to get distracted!" A.K.A., she had been passing notes instead of copying them from the board. Great.

I sat down next to her and waited. After organizing her folders (all an obnoxious shade of pink that I'm sure would have made even Kari cringe in horror) into a neat little pile on the coffee-table in front of her, she turned to me expectantly. "Okay, what do you need to know?"

I gulped. "Um…everything?"

"Okay! Let's get started!"

I tried. I really did. I promise. It just—well, Mimi _appeared_ to understand it…but…she got sidetracked really easily. Not that I could blame her—it was boring material—but…

"And this is a tundra. It looks so pretty, but it could use a little more grass…but I guess then it wouldn't be a tundra anymore…and this is where Japan is! I have a globe of it at home…of the entire Earth…but I couldn't bring that with me, so we have to look at this map. Look how much it distorts that island!"

"Which one, Australia?" I asked in a low droll.

She frowned at the map, then at me. "You're on the wrong side of the world, Tai. That's Greenland, not Australia. Did you know that Greenland is really a very cold place, and Iceland is really green usually? Izzy says the Vikings named them ineptly…"

"Mimi, I don't think the Vikings are part of the geography final."

"They could be! That could be the difference between a pass and a fail, that little tidbit of information I just knowingly gave you!"

"If you say so…what's that?" I asked, pointing at a picture in the textbook.

"Tai, that's the Leaning Tower of Pisa."

"We should have some pizza…"

"First you need to memorize this list of countries and capitals!"

I bit back a groan, and allowed her to quiz me on countries and capitals.

"Spain?"

"Madrid."

"Italy?"

"Rome."

"Argentina?"

"Buenos Aires."

"Austria?"

"…Sydney?"

Mimi sighed. "Well, you had been doing better that time…"

Finally, after more mishaps than correct answers, we sat back and took a break; my watch indicated only two hours had passed. Two hours! And we weren't even close to done with all the material! "This is impossible!" I groaned.

She glared at me. "That isn't helping!"

"Face it: we're not getting anywhere. I still can't tell the difference between Florida and South Korea!"

"One of them has Disney World."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, sure, the map will have 'Disney World' labeled on Florida."

"Stop it! You're getting there!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Ugh!" I threw my hands up in the air. "I give up!"

"With what? Arguing with me?"

"With learning this junk!" I half-screamed, fighting back an urge to tear the papers apart.

"Why are you two screaming?" said a voice from down the hallway. Agumon stuck his head out of the bedroom. "Shouldn't you be studying, Tai?"

"He gave up," Mimi replied angrily.

Agumon looked at me with a confused expression. "Why?"

"Because," I said just as angrily.

"That doesn't mean anything. Why?" my partner responded.

"It's stupid."

"Why is it stupid?"

"Stop asking 'why'! It's stupid because it's impossible for me to learn this all!"

"Didn't you make a map once?"

I blinked. "Yeah. But it was illegible, apparently."

"But it wasn't stupid. Isn't geography just maps?"

Mimi saw a moment to jump in there. "Basically!"

"But, Mimi, you're just going off on tangents all the time," I said dryly.

"I was trying to make it interesting," she said, looking slightly offended. "I had Matt tutor me last month, and it worked because I tried to learn. You're not trying."

"_I_ tutored _you_ two months ago, and you kept on complaining about your nails!"

"The lesson was on cell growth!"

"So?"

"So, nails are made my cells growing!"

"So is everything else!"

Agumon decided to intervene. "Why don't you two start over? It had been going well…Tai, what's the capital of…"

Mimi jutted in. "Greece."

Instinctively, I said, "Athens."

"See? You're getting it. Just be patient!" Agumon said before closing the door on us once more.

I sighed. "Sorry, Mimi. Let's try this again."

She nodded, easily putting that last conversation behind us. "So, what's that?" she asked, pointing to a map.

"…Florida?"

"Tai, the Korean peninsula isn't far away from Japan or anything…"

"I know, I know…"

Two more hours passed. And, by the end of this time period, I think I was getting it. We had some pizza, I successfully identified the Leaning Tower of Pisa, I knew a majority of my capitals and biomes, and I knew that the North Pole didn't have penguins. Finally, we called it quits. It had been a long day, filled with arguments and mnemonic devices and other things I'd rather not to think about.

But, still, while I'd rather not have Mimi for a teacher, I still managed to do pretty well on the exam…

* * *

**Sorry the argument didn't amount to much. This is supposed to be a series of funny one-shots, and hatred doesn't equate into funniness too well…**

**Anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed that. I'm starting to really love writing about Mimi…I know I butcher her character, but I love trying to think of what she'd say…**

**Review! Or…or…I'll…make you…do…something. I can't think of any good threat at this time, so insert the threat of your choice for 'something'…thanks!**


	98. Gravity

**Yep, I'm still here! Sorry, computer crash, figuring out a new laptop, getting done with school...plus I think only one review for that last chapter, which was kinda a downer...**

* * *

_Digi.5, sometime during the school year._

I hate school.

Things get so boring when TK isn't here to play with.

"TK, do you have to go?"

He smiled at me. "Course I do, silly. I need to learn so I can grow up!"

"What does 'grow up' mean?"

TK looked at me thoughtfully while putting a folder in his backpack. "Well, it's when babies become kids, and kids become big kids, and big kids become adults."

"So Matt used to be your size?"

"Yep!" He frowned quickly and grabbed piece of paper off of the floor, shoving it into his backpack, then smiled at me.

I thought for a moment. "But Babies go to In-Training, then Rookie, then Champion, then…"

"Silly. That's only for Digimon. Not for humans."

"But 'man' and 'mon' are so similar…"

"Patamon, have fun! At least you never get homework! And no T.V. Remember last time?" He left the room, leaving me alone. Long story about the T.V...that put a damper on my day. Hey, at least I didn't have homework, like he said.

* * *

After a few hours, I wished I had homework. Or schoolwork. Or just plain work. Something to do other than sit around waiting for TK to come home.

I curled up and lay on TK's pillow, deciding to nap until school was over. Of course, I was too bored to nap. So I decided to play a game. Against myself.

It worked out well enough until my opponent beat me.

Ugh. Why was being bored so boring? And to top it off, it was only eight in the morning!

I could always leave the house, I suppose. The front door was locked, but I had figured out how to open the bedroom window after TK spent a night hiccupping nonstop-you would have wanted to escape from that! But I didn't leave often; TK was always saying that I had to pretend to be a toy animal in public. And, apparently, toy animals didn't fly around Odaiba on a regular basis.

I guess I could try to be a toy animal...but that was boring...unless...

A few minutes later, I had emptied TK's toy chest of its random assortment of objects: a few hats, some toy trucks and action figures, two candy wrappers, and a toy bow-and-arrow set. I set aside the latter few items, and turned my attention toward the toy trucks.

According to TK, boys like cars. I personally am afraid of cars-they're loud and fast and will run you over if you stay still in the road too long...

Still, I put my paws on two of the cars and started moving them around me.

_Vrooom. Vrrroooom...honk, honk! Beep! Outta the way!_

Okay, so it was a _little_ fun...

Then I remembered something. TK had talked about a lesson they were doing in science, about something called gravity. That's what caused things to fall to the ground. According to TK, he had asked his teacher about flying pigs-I'm not a pig, but same difference-and the teacher had said that would defy gravity.

I defied gravity. I felt a momentary sense of accomplishment in that.

I wondered: maybe cars could defy gravity as well...

I picked up one of the trucks and flew to the top of the sofa. It wasn't _that_ far down...and there was carpeting...what's the worst that could happen?

I dropped the truck.

Luckily, nothing broke. Trucks don't defy gravity.

I gently set the truck back inside the toy chest; then I looked for my next victim...I mean, experiment.

Action figures have the same luck as trucks. But hats fall slower, I think...I flew under one of them and tried to make it fly by blowing on it. It still fell on top of my head, regardless of my noble efforts.

I decided to put the candy wrappers back in the chest; there had to be a good reason TK was saving them.

That left the bow and arrow to test out against the wickedness of gravity...

* * *

"Patamon, I'm home!"

"Over here!"

He dropped his backpack on the ground and stared at me. "...how did this happen?"

"Gravity doesn't like me any more."

He blinked. I guess I was a sight, being tangled among the bow's string-which had snapped shortly after finally firing the arrow at the ceiling thirty minutes or so ago. I had fallen from my perch on the sofa, snapped the string, and...well, the rest is a little blurry...

My partner helped to disentangle me, then proceeded to replace the mess of cushions that I might have happened to Boom Bubble around after getting tangled up. I blame the bow.

"How was school?" I asked as we closed the toy chest, the evil bow and arrow inside.

"Boring." He shrugged nonchalantly. "How was home?"

"...can I come to school with you?"

"It can't have been that bad being by yourself..."

"...wanna bet?"

* * *

**I actually wrote this chapter months ago, I just never felt like finishing it. It's kinda dull, but I'm tired of neglecting my writing, so this is the best it's going to be. I'm going to finish this story. Just watch. And review if you so feel like doing so. Remember those first chapters, when I had no idea how to spell Patamon's name, let alone anything else? That was so long ago...**


	99. Fundraiser

**In my defense, I've been working on this chapter since April. It just never was finishable until tonight, in the middle of June...**

* * *

_Digi.5, of course...due to when I started to write this, this takes place during the school year around April, before Easter...I'm not sure when the soccer season takes place, but if it doesn't have anything happening in the spring, just pretend that it's a head start thing or so..._

* * *

"Hello, would you like to buy some…"

_Slam!_

Tai stepped back, rubbing his elbow, which had nearly been hit by the swinging door. "Thanks for taking it into consideration..."

Sora huffed. "Tai, you're doing something wrong! That's three door slams in as many houses!"

The brunette shrugged. "Well, you're not helping much, are you?"

"Hey, it's not my fault the world doesn't want to buy wrapping paper and kettle corn!" she pitched back, glaring in disgust at the catalogues Tai was carrying.

"Wait, we're selling that stuff? I thought it was cookie dough…" Tai said, continuing to open the ad and look at the merchandise.

A third member of their party walked slowly after them, as far from the two as he could. "I still don't understand why we're selling wrapping paper in April. That's either really belated, or very early."

Sora sighed. "Izzy, you're the genius. You figure it out."

Izzy nodded as he started focusing on that problem. "Well, I suppose, what with Easter coming along soon, people are remembering how fast the holidays progress, putting them in an eager mood to get ahead for next year…"

"Hello, would you like to buy…"

_Slam!_

"…and, including a view on the estimated inflation and market prices of travel by December…"

"Izzy!" He looked up from mid-thought. Sora was looking, if possible, even more exasperated than before. "I hadn't meant for you to actually figure it out!"

"Then what had you meant?"

"I…it…it was supposed to be figurative!"

Tai nudged Izzy before he could respond. "Just leave it be. I really don't want her to explode anymore today."

"Tai, I'm not exploding. I just wish that we could sell these. Izzy, why don't you try?" And, taking the catalogues from Tai, she handed them to Izzy, who looked at them suspiciously. However, before he could stop her, Sora knocked on the next door, then stepped back and pushed Izzy to the front. After a few moments, the door opened. Izzy began fidgeting nervously.

"Price rates constantly increase due to the economic stress of the world…inflation…um…these Santa designs are very pleasant this time of year, aren't they? We're just trying to sell…"

_Slam!_

"Izzy!" Sora said, laughing while looking slightly annoyed. "You can monologue us for hours about computers, but you can't even form a complete sentence here?"

"...this is different, okay? This makes no sense. Computers and digital data makes perfect sense."

"Oh, and monsters taking over the world makes sense as well?"

"It makes more sense than selling Christmas gifts in April."

Sora nodded and sighed. "Well, that didn't work."

Tai rolled his eyes. "That's obvious. Sora, it's your turn."

"Why my turn?"

"You've made me do half of the street. Izzy did one and nearly gave that old man a heart attack when he started spewing out economic liabilities. It's your turn."

Sora looked around. "Why don't we give Izzy another try?"

In response, he hid behind the papers.

Sora sighed. "Okay…" She took a deep breath, snatched the papers from Izzy-he gave them rather willingly-and jogged to the next house on the street. She rang the doorbell and waited until the door opened to a woman.

"Hello. My name is Sora Takenouchi, and this is Tai and Izzy. Would you care to support the Odaiba Junior Soccer League by purchasing one of these items?"

The woman looked at them skeptically-Izzy and Tai went from glaring at each other to smiling like innocent perfect students. "Let me see...why is there wrapping paper? Christmas just ended."

"We're also selling kettle corn, for a very good price..."

* * *

"Hey, at least that door didn't slam shut like the others," Tai said, trying to make Sora feel better.

"This isn't working at all. Not even I can sell this junk," Sora said crossly, ignoring Tai.

The brunette looked at her optimistically. "Can we just give up already? We could get some ice cream, maybe watch some games..."

"No!"

"...we could always just go to Mimi...she might be willing to buy enough to fill our quota..."

"Tai..."

"...or we could go to Joe...mention the 'rapidly approaching' holiday season, Izzy rambles on a bit about inflation and price stuff, and he's a sure buyer of a few packets of wrapping paper."

"Or," Izzy interjected, "we just go to our parents like we should have gone to originally?"

"...that could work as well..."

* * *

**Two more chapters left! I can do this! What do you think? Has this story been worth all of its ups and downs, and mini-hiatuses, so far?**

**Review, please! Or I'll use my abysmal selling skills and have you help my school band!**


	100. Fleeting Moments

**This is different than anything else I've ever written. I felt that the second-to-last chapter deserved something special.**

**Oh, and, believe it or not, nobody is really out of character-remember, they don't really know each other in this timeline piece. Okay, that kind of spoiled things for the chapter, but I needed to let you know that they aren't best friends in this chapter. I purposefully did it like that...  
**

* * *

_I can honestly say that this chapter speaks for itself._

* * *

_One year ago, we were normal children in a normal-enough world. We had our problems, and we had our good times, but nothing was out of the ordinary._

* * *

"...and this was what was called the Revolution of..."

A boy with a mess of brown hair yawned; then, with what could only be described as an evil grin, he quietly tore a paper out of his notebook. Despite the school day being halfway over, nothing was written on the paper.

With a glance up at the occupied teacher, the boy began to fold the paper.

A girl sitting behind him poked him with a pencil. "Stop. You'll get caught."

"Who says?" he whispered back.

"Tai, you're being an idiot. Do you want to get extra homework?"

"Sora, shut up for a moment. I haven't done this in a while."

Another boy, sitting next to the girl, leaned forward. "What are you doing?"

"Making a paper airplane," Tai muttered, his tongue between his teeth.

The boy snorted. "That's not a paper airplane. You're doing it wrong."

"Oh, yeah? I bet I'm doing better than you ever could."

The boy glared. Then, with a glance up at the teacher, he too tore out a piece of paper and began folding.

Sora rolled her eyes. "Matt, Tai, stop being idiots. You'll be caught."

"Who cares?" they responded at the same time. After glaring once again at each other, they each focused back on their airplanes.

A few minutes later, Sora bit back a laugh. "Matt, that's what you call an airplane?"

The blond boy frowned. "Yeah. What?"

"...it couldn't fly for two seconds."

"You make a better one, then."

"I'm not stupid. I don't want to get in trouble."

"I dare you."

With a glare, Sora too tore out a sheet of paper and began to fold.

Against all odds, they weren't caught for their failure at paying attention during class. They filed out of the classroom together, each holding his or her own masterpiece. As soon as they left the building, and after Tai had found his younger sister, they tested out their creations.

It was an uneasy truce, the soccer star, the loner, and the athlete. It didn't last long that day; after it was revealed that Sora's held air the longest, they parted ways, and spent the rest of the school year ignoring one another. However, it was a start. And it was the start of Kari forcing Tai to learn how to properly make a paper airplane.

* * *

_One month ago, we had been doing all we could to enjoy a fruitful summer our own way._

* * *

"Mimi, dear, come here for a moment."

A brunette entered the living room of her house. "What is it, Mommy?"

"Honey, we want to send you to summer camp."

"What?"

"It's only for a few weeks, sweetie, and you'll have plenty of opportunities to have a great time. Look: there's swimming, and canoe races, and a bonfire every night. You love s'mores."

"But...but...what about cheerleading camp? I have the application..." the girl responded, looking more annoyed than upset.

"Mimi, you're too young for cheerleading camp."

"No, I'm not. The cutoff is ten through twelve. I'm ten. See? It was meant to be! And I won't know anyone at summer camp, anyway."

Her mother sighed. "Aren't some girls from your dance class going? And I was talking with Mrs. Izumi at the last parents' meeting. She's sending her son there. You know him."

"Mom, I know Izzy from school. We've never spoken a word. All he does is pay attention in class and play with computers during recess. I don't _know _him."

"I'm sorry you feel this way, but we already signed you up...just try to have a good time, okay?"

"Don't count on it."

* * *

_One week ago...well, I suppose what you call a week. One week ago, we could either have been lazing about, or running from monsters, depending on if you count a foreign time line._

_For simplicity's sake, one week ago, we were lazing about, laughing at nothing at all._

* * *

"And, now, you want to nail this into place, like so..." the woodworking teacher said, demonstrating the proper skill.

A young boy in the front swung his hammer around. "Okay, now can I put this together?"

"Wait! You need your goggles on!"

The young blond made a face. "Why?"

"...because! It could be dangerous!"

"Okay. Now it's time!" the younger boy said, grabbing a nail from a box. The blue-haired boy next to him quickly pulled it away.

"Not so fast! This thing is sharp!"

"Joe, I want to get started already. Look, they're already done," the boy pouted.

"TK, if we're going to do this, we have to be safe. I'm your work partner, so we're going to take our time and cover all our bases. Understand? Now, hold this nail steady...that's it...ready, set...wait!"

"Joe..."

"Sorry, I thought I saw a bug. Okay, go right ahead."

A few minutes later, Joe sighed in relief. "There. We're done!" TK held up a miniature wooden cart.

"Now time for the saw...!"

* * *

_And one day ago, we saved the world._

* * *

**So. One more chapter. And this story was supposed to last forever...but I suppose it has lasted for too long as it is...**_  
_

**What's been your favorite chapter? My personal fave was 'Pepperoni or War'...but what about you? Any that you like? Dislike? Love or hate? Are you happy or sad that it's about to end?  
**

**Well. Review. You'll only have this time, and one more time, to review for this story. Might as well do it now.  
**


	101. The End of the World

**This is it. The last ever chapter of Haha Moments. Please pause for a moment of silence.**

**Okay, that's over. Go ahead, and hopefully destroy that silence with laughter. That's the purpose of this story, after all. A quick smile in the middle of life. I hope it worked.**

**Sentimentality later. Go ahead and read this. I've actually been working on this one for months, adding random bits here and there, once I realized what I wanted the last chapter to be. I don't think it can beat Chapter 100, but I'll let you decide...oh, and I apologize for the length. I got carried away...**

* * *

_**Everyone.** Go back and read Chapter 1. I know, that was ages ago...but reread it right now._

_Back from that detour? Okay...read the last chapter. What are you waiting for?  
_

* * *

"But that picture is…is…" Kari said, frowning as she struggled to find the right word.

I decided to try to help her out. "Pathetic? Embarrassing? The end of my life?"

"Cute."

"It is not cute! It's an abomination! I was six years old!"

She giggled. "Exactly. What happened to you?"

"Wha—hey!"

From behind the front door, a scuffle could be heard. "Kari? Is that you?"

Kari bit her lip and looked at the door. I ran over and covered her mouth with my hand. "Not. A. Word. We're not here," I whispered.

Above the pounding, Mimi's voice could be made out. "Is anybody there?"

"Nope!" Agumon said happily. I glared at him. He cocked his head at me. "What did I do wrong, Tai? I told them that no one was here?"

I rolled my eyes. "You just fell for the oldest trick in the book. Great. Just great."

"Tai! Open this door this instant!" Sora screamed.

"We know you're in there! You shut the door in our faces!" Mimi added, still laughing. Another loud bang sounded on the door. Personally, I was surprised it was still holding under all of this pressure.

I let go of Kari, who looked curiously at the door. "I didn't think they'd try to break down the door…" she said sheepishly.

"That's what girls do. 'I am woman, here me roar,' all that jazz," I explained, rubbing my forehead. Perfect timing: at that moment, Mimi let out a roar of frustration. "See what I mean?"

"What's going on?" came a new voice from outside our apartment door.

This day was just getting better and better.

"Hello, Izzy," Sora said. I could practically hear the smile in her voice. "Tai locked us out."

"Well, it is his apartment…why are you trying to get in his home in the first place?" Izzy asked. I started to freak out more than before. If they told him…

"Oh, no reason," Mimi answered lightly. I began breathing again. "Kari just showed us this adorable picture."

Great. Just great.

"What picture?" Izzy asked. Great. He was curious. Now nothing would stop him from finding the picture and ruining my life.

"Well..." Sora began, "help us get in, and we'll show you."

I backed away from the door slowly. "Kari," I whispered, "what did you do with it?"

"With what?" she asked innocently. A little too innocently.

"The picture! What else would I be looking for at the moment?" I all but screamed. The voices at the door quieted down for a moment, then continued. It didn't sound as though Izzy was partaking in the pounding of the door just yet, but he could jump in at any moment-his curiosity made even him irrational. And the poor door was doomed if another person joined them...

"It's in the scrapbook."

"What?" I looked to my sister.

She shrugged. "The picture of you in the puppy costume. I put it back with Mom's scrapbook of pictures from your childhood..."

Oh, geez. If Sora and Mimi got hold of that book, I would be a dead man walking. I didn't even want to think about what embarrassing photos resided in it.

Before I could worry too much about that end-of-the-world situation, I heard another pair of voices.

"Sora! Mimi! Izzy!"

"...why are you all pounding on Tai's door?"

Life likes to mock me, doesn't it? The newest members of this entourage were none other than TK and Matt.

"I'm not pounding on the door...I'm, er, knocking politely..." Izzy said. He almost sounded sheepish.

"...right. Why are you politely pounding on the door, then?" Matt asked skeptically. I couldn't blame him. I was wondering the same myself-okay, so they wanted to see the photo, but was it really that important?

"No reason in particular," Sora responded, almost as nonchalantly as Mimi had sounded when Izzy had asked. "What are you doing here?

"TK and I were in the neighborhood, and we thought it would be nice to stop by and visit."

"Hmmm...that actually makes sense," Sora said.

"Why did you think we were here?" TK asked her.

"I thought Tai had called you to come and help him fight us off," she responded.

"...why are _you_ here? Can you please just answer that question?" Matt asked, sounding more confused than ever.

Throughout this exchange, Kari, Agumon, Gatomon (she was peeking from behind a doorway, probably debating amongst herself whether or not to be annoyed that we were disrupting her sleep, or to just be amused by the proceedings), and I just listened. Kari was on the verge of giggling; a quick glare from me did nothing to stop silent laughter from escaping her.

Sora, Izzy, and Mimi still hadn't answered Matt's justified question. He asked it again.

"One moment. We've got to wait until Joe arrives," Mimi responded.

Izzy sounded confused himself, which was always a dangerous sign. "Why do you think that Joe will arrive?"

"Because I called him to meet us here," Mimi answered simply.

I rolled my eyes. I couldn't do much more than that, however, because then I heard _another _voice.

"Mimi...Sora, Matt, TK, Izzy...um. Are we having a group meeting?" Joe asked.

"Not that I know of...what did Mimi tell you?" Matt asked. I could tell he was getting amused by this whole predicament.

I bet you anything that Joe scratched his head right then. "She just said that she and Sora were hanging out, and that I should help them with something. She didn't exactly specify what they needed help with."

I looked at Kari. "When did they have time to call him? They've been trying to break the door down for the last ten minutes!"

She shrugged and looked at the door in bewilderment.

I will admit, this was slightly amusing. We were having an unofficial get-together outside of my home. Kari and I were barricaded inside, and six of our best friends were probably going to break in at any moment.

A sudden burst of laughter sounded from outside the door. It appeared that Sora and Mimi had finally obliged Matt and explained the circumstances.

"Maybe we could sneak out a window?" I asked. I don't think I sounded too optimistic.

"Tai? You there?" came TK's high-pitched voice.

I sighed. "Where else would I be?" I called out to him.

Outside suddenly grew quieter. "Hah!" Sora said. "I knew you'd give up!"

"You're not in the apartment yet, are you?" I said.

She sounded smug. "'Yet' is a relative term. It won't be long now."

"Why do you say that?" I asked, looking up at the ceiling. It didn't have an answer.

Mimi did, however. "Because the door's opening the door as we speak."

I blinked. "Wha..." Gatomon was at the door, silently jumping up and undoing the lock and turning the handle. "Traitor!" I yelled as I lunged for the door.

Too late. It swung open. A stampede of people issued through-everyone who had been in the hallway during this exchange. Sora and Mimi looked especially triumphant, TK was joyful, Matt was amused, Izzy looked a little disoriented, and Joe just appeared to be exhausted.

I looked to my little sister's Digimon. "Why?"

"Tai, you're got the Crest of Courage. You're not going to hide away here forever," Gatomon answered, as if she had done me a personal favor. However, the glint in her eyes showed that she had done it for her own amusement. Typical.

I glared at her for a few seconds, then turned to the problem at hand. Namely, the six people who had entered, all of which were searching the room for any signs of an outdated picture.

"You'll never find it..." I taunted, hoping it would at least throw Joe off the hunt.

Instead, they all turned, in unison, to my little sister.

Kari grinned in apology at me, then started running to my parent's room.

Like Digimon, like partner. At least Agumon was still with me...on second glance, he was trailing TK as the household filed into the master bedroom.

When I finally got in there, it was all over. Mimi and TK had the photo book between them; everyone else was gathered around and behind the two, enjoying the skeptical. Kari, upon prodding from Matt or Izzy, was providing a running commentary on the pictures.

"...and that's when Tai was six; see, he's holding up his first baby tooth. Mom always said that he kept it with him for a week before he let the tooth fairy take it away. Look, that's when I was just a baby, Tai's holding me..."

"And this," Sora exclaimed as Mimi turned the page to the picture that had caused this mess, "is the most adorable picture ever."

I acted as any sane boy would do.

I ran as fast as I could.

* * *

**And that's it. Yep. I blame Japanese chocolate for anything that doesn't make sense at the end. Hopefully, however, everything does make a bit of sense...**

**First of all, you have no idea how widely I smiled when I posted that last chapter, and got the email saying that 'Chapter 100 of Haha Moments' was posted. 100! Triple digits! I made it!**

**Second of all-wow. I'm a lot crazier than I realized. Somehow, we've reached the end. 101 chapters of randomness. I hope you've all enjoyed it somewhat. I know I had a great time coming up with this!**

**But, alas, we must part ways. Don't worry, I'm going to actually finish those fifty chapters of Type, and then I'll start posting a new story, this time adventure. I know: me, adventure? Impossible! In my defense, I never intended to write comedy. Let alone 100+ chapters of it. But from this day forward, Haha Moments is no more. *insert bawling here***

**Oh, and I don't say this enough, but thanks to all of you who've ever read, reviewed, subscribed, and/or favorited this. It means everything to me. I would offer a hug for each of you, but, despite my efforts, I haven't worked out how to do that through a computer.**

**And I still don't have that time machine I so desperately wanted way back when. Oh, well. Some things will never change.**

**One last review? Pretty please? With sugar on top?**


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